


Welcome To The Team

by DAsObiQuiet



Series: Miraculous Bunny Hutch [4]
Category: American Dragon: Jake Long, Danny Phantom, Kim Possible (Cartoon), Miraculous Ladybug, Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja
Genre: Crossover, F/M, Gen, Grown-up Kim Possible, Meanwhile back at the farm, Oh Ron, Pantsless Ron Stoppable, Please forgive the bad French Accent, Post-Hawk Moth Defeat, Ron Stoppable is surprisingly smart, Self-Esteem Issues, Team Bonding, Team Leader, Team Leader Kim Possible, The New Guy, The Team - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-02-22 06:16:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13160997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DAsObiQuiet/pseuds/DAsObiQuiet
Summary: Ladybug joins an international team of super heroes. So why did she have to get stuck with the crazy Americans?-- REVAMPED.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> "I" In English.  
> " _I_ " In French
> 
> Alright redone with the help of some amazing native French speakers (THANK YOU SO MUCH! YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND YOU'RE AMAZING) I've revamped the story and the accent. I honestly can't think of another way to emphasize that people are speaking something that isn't their native language, and since a lot of this story is about communication problems, that's kind of important. So warning, when not native English speakers are speaking English, I'm going to give them an accent. FYI
> 
> If anyone has any suggestions (speaking to you, native French speakers!), I would LOVE some advice.

Marinette hadn't felt this worried about anything since she and Chat had defeated Hawkmoth. The enormous tower known the world over drew closer and closer and she couldn't help but wonder if Mr. Agreste had somehow gotten his miraculous back and shoved it down her gut. It certainly felt like his entire hoard of butterflies had housed themselves in her stomach. That couldn't all be the shuttle they were taking (and why the heck was it a shuttle? Why not a simple car or train? Seriously?!).

" _It's okay, Marinette,,"_ Tikki whispered to her (and Marinette tried to ignore how the little Kwami sounded just about as unsure as she felt).

" _Why did I agree to this again?"_ she practically groaned.

" _Because France wants you to be their representative,"_ Tikki responded.

And they had. They'd sent all sorts of agents to hunt her down (and she was sure that many of them had discovered her identity but were trying to not be invasive) and in the end had proposed a deal too good to refuse. They would fund her schooling to  _anywhere_  in the world if she served with EPO (the Earth Protection Organization) for one year and remained on call afterwards.

After discussing it with her parents (thankful that she no longer had to keep a secret from them at least), and then Chat (whom she  _still_  hadn't worked up the nerve to reveal herself to), she'd decided to take it.

It had taken some finagling, mainly because she didn't want her human identity broadcast. EPO had been perfectly willing to work around that, although the paperwork she'd filled out had more or less confirmed her suspicion that they knew who she was. They'd actually come up with the idea of her arriving in a non-magical ladybug outfit tailored for her. She could transform or detransform as needed without risking her identity to the wrong people.

Not that there would be many of the wrong people here. At least, she  _really_  hoped not because what would that say for the security of the world? She knew she was being paranoid, but she couldn't help it, and Tikki didn't disagree.

" _None of them even know French!"_  she lamented again. Tikki just sighed. They'd been over this before, and Marinette knew she was just rehashing things, but she couldn't help it.

" _You've been doing very well with your English,"_ the Kwami said, just like she did every time Marinette brought this up.

" _But not conversationally well!"_

" _You'll learn,"_ Tikki insisted.

" _And what if I don't get along with the others?"_

Tikki muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, " _this is what we get for choosing 14 and 15-year-olds_ ".

" _Hey!"_  Marinette said, offended. Tikki just raised an eyebrow. Marinette shrunk back a little.  _"I'm 16 in a month."_

" _Is this because Chat won't be here with you?"_

Marinette fidgeted nervously.  _"Maybe a little. I mean, I know I can handle myself, but it's always been both of us before."_

Tikki looked considering. _"We can transform and you can call him if you'd like."_

The super-hero was tempted. Very tempted. And yet, she also wanted to do this on her own. She wanted to prove to everyone – especially Chat – that she  _could_  do it. That she had earned Paris' respect and she could earn the world's too.

Finally she shook her head. _"No, Tikki, you're right. I can handle this. I have to handle this. I'm sorry."_

The Kwami smiled warmly.  _"It's alright, Marinette."_

" _It's just...a paranormal team dealing specifically with everything non-scientific and dangerous. From what I understand there's a dead boy on the team! How is that even possible?!"_

" _I'm more interested in the dragon,"_  Tikki replied.

Marinette paused and blinked at her.  _"Right."_ Sometimes it was difficult to remember that Tikki knew everything she did. Sometimes she felt like she and Tikki were the same person and other times it felt like they still hadn't known each other very long.

" _We'll be arriving soon, Ms. Ladybug. Please prepare yourself,"_  a voice came over the speaker and Marinette had to swallow the lump in her throat.

" _Marinette, you can do this,"_ Tikki said, sounding firmer than she had before. The dark-haired girl smiled. Tikki's unwavering faith in her kind of left her in awe sometimes. How could someone believe in her that much when she couldn't even believe in herself half the time. Although, she was getting better with that.

The shuttle approached a landing platform and Marinette went over a mental list. Mask in place? Check. Luggage? Check. Ladybug suit? Check. Confidence... working on it.

She watched out the window as the heavy door in the side of the tower opened and several people stepped out towards the landing pad. Leading the pack was a woman. Tall, with red hair and an ease in the way she held her body that Marinette couldn't help but envy. She had an air of seniority and authority that Marinette didn't think even Chat could dismiss.

Behind her followed three dark-haired boys of varying height, although they all seemed rather scrawny. They all looked to be in their late teens, though, and she could tell there was something...off about each of them.

" _Tikki... I think that's my team,"_ she said (and she did  _not_  squeak). Her team that just happened to be made up of otherwise American people. Why had she agreed to this again?

Although the one kid looked at least somewhat Asian. Maybe they'd have something in common? Because she wasn't sure how much she'd have in common with anyone else. 

When their previous member had left, for whatever reason, there had been an opening that France had more or less jumped on, and now she was paying the price. There were other  _European_  teams. Why couldn't she be on one of those?

Because those didn't have an opening.

She wanted to bang her head against the wall but refrained. She could attend the top design school in the world after this. Some place her parents couldn't  _dream_  of sending her.

" _Think of your future, Marinette,"_  she whispered to herself.

" _You should probably start calling yourself Ladybug,"_  Tikki pointed out.

" _Right,"_  the dark-haired girl replied.

The shuttle set down and the door opened dramatically. She hoped it would help her give a first good impression. Once the door stopped moving, the only sound she could hear was that of the wind whistling around them.

The red-haired woman cocked her head and said, in perfect French,  _"Ladybug, I presume?"_

Marinette wanted to collapse in relief.

" _Oui!"_  she said and went to step forward...and promptly tripped, falling face first onto the landing pad. Blasted clumsiness. The three boys broke into laughter. Marinette felt heat rise to her cheeks as she hurriedly picked herself up. Then a hand appeared in front of her.

She looked up to see the red-haired woman looking down, a warm smile on her face. "Don't listen to them. Honestly, it looks like you'll fit in here just fine." She spoke that aloud in English.

"Oi!"

"Hey!"

Marinette instantly liked this woman and returned her smile. She also accepted the hand and finished climbing to her feet.

"Dude, we're not clumsy!" one of the boys protested, folding his arms as he stepped forward. "I'll bet she isn't even in high-school." The other two exchanged glances and stepped back. Well, it would seem at least they had some sense.

"That's twenty laps, Randy," the red-haired woman said with a bright smile that somehow seemed scarier than an angry face. Marinette's already high opinion somehow rose.

"What the juice?!" the kid, Randy, said indignantly. "But I have to get back to school!"

"Then I suggest you hurry."

Marinette noticed the woman had spoken a little bit more slowly than the boy and suspected she knew the newest member would have some language barriers. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

The kid, Randy, turned around and stomped through the doors as the red-head turned to the boys. "Any other comments?"

The two exchanged glances again. "Nope," the tallest one said.

"We're cool," the second one replied hurriedly.

Her smile widened. "Glad to see you two can learn." Marinette thought she'd followed that because she did find it rather funny.

The woman turned to Marinette again. "It's nice to finally meet you, Ladybug. That's Daniel Fenton and Jake Long, two of our elite members of the Paranormal Field Team. The rude boy is Randy Cunningham – don't worry, he just lets his mouth run away sometimes. He didn't mean it. And I'm Agent Kim Possible. Welcome to the team"


	2. Randy and Jake

Marinette showed Agent Possible what she could do with and without her transformation right after she arrived and was surprised when the red-head actually dubbed Marinette a great asset with the suit and a potentially great asset without. The dark-haired girl had just wondered afterwords if her superior had really been watching her fight, because without the suit, she was still clumsy as all get out. Then the woman had outlined a very intense routine for the red-clad super heroine that promised to teach her martial arts and weapons (how cool was that?!) for when she didn't have access to magic. The older woman had insisted that she wouldn't have done so if Marinette didn't have potential, which made her feel a lot better about the whole experience in general. Like maybe she could do this after all.

Agent Possible and had then deemed her worthy of trying a team exercise, brand new to all of them and designed with their collective powers in mind.

Unfortunately, the first time the team participated in the exercise didn't end well. Disastrous was a little more like it. They didn't get what they're after – a  _glowing ball_  that was nothing more than their goal – and Marinette was convinced that it somehow had to be her fault. Well, mostly her fault. She was the new person on the team, after all. Although, she wasn't sure how they managed to destroy half the hall when she has the power of creation (and had to wonder if this was how their team exercises usually went). Agent Possible said it was simply because their team dynamic had changed and they all needed to adapt. Everyone left the training hall sore and frustrated that day. Marinette just headed to her room where she collapsed and tried to recover from an intense training session with a new team on top of jet-lag. 

The next day followed a similar routine. 

By the time the second exercise reached its end, she was more or less in the middle of a personal pity party. She felt dejected and upset and was half-tempted to throw in the towel right then and there no matter what the French Government said. She wasn't the only one either (the single person among them who didn't seem as upset as the rest of them was Danny, but she could tell that even he had been trying to hide his frustration). Still, she knew that this had been mostly her fault, but that didn't mean she knew how to  _fix_  it. It had been a long time since she'd been so overlooked as Ladybug and no one else had really listened to her (which, she couldn't blame them for too much, she'd come in as the new kid, could hardly speak their language and also happened to be younger than them). After a while, she'd even used her lucky charm and figured out how to work with it and they  _still_  hadn't succeeded.

Of all of them, Agent possible seemed the most upset, though. She didn't actually _say_ anything about it, but did just look at them all in disappointment and assigned them to run 20 laps without their transformations before walked out. The boys groaned but pulled themselves to their feet to start running around the gym. Marinette followed suit with a sigh.

Later, Marinette went over what happened and came to the conclusion that she needed to get to know what the other members of her team better and figure out how to work with them. She technically already knew the gist of their powers, as she'd read their files (or the watered-down version they gave her in any case) but she still hadn't  _seen_  their powers in action - not all of them - or how the boys could really use them. She knew Danny had ghost powers (which confused her because he doesn't  _look_  dead most of the time and he had a pulse), and that he can fly and faze through things and shoot energy blasts from his hands. There were a few more things he was able to do, she remembered, but he didn't seem to want to get involved with the rest of them, leaving the others to work at getting the objective. She'd watched him transform, hair going from black to white, and then he'd...just floated there looking either bored or annoyed.

Jake could, in fact, turn into a dragon with a burst of flame. She knew he'd be stronger and faster in that form and he could breathe fire, fly and even use magic sometimes. He'd... actually done quite a bit of damage to clear the way for her and Randy, but in her opinion it had done more harm than good. She really had to wonder who the team member before her had been if they defaulted to that strategy, but it was classified, unfortunately.

Randy's powers were more like Marinette's in the fact that he just slipped on a mask that gives him a super-suit and then he does flips over things like nothing else. It's kind of jaw-dropping - even she and Chat Noir would have issues pulling some of those moves off - but he seemed to like to show off more than he liked to figure out how to obtain the group goal.

Marinette herself was stronger and faster and had a lot more protection with the suit on, not to mention she had her magic yo-yo (which had gotten tangled around her teammates more than once, much to her chagrin - she had a new appreciation for Chat who had reached a point where he rarely if ever got in her way anymore and visa versa). She could also do her fair share of maneuvering, but somehow, even after she transformed, she just kept tripping the others up, or they'd trip her up. She'd never realized just how much of a boon it was to have a partner – partners – who she worked so well with. She and Chat had had their rough patches, but the two of them had always had such a dynamic. They hadn't had to  _work_  at it... not like this.

The third day was marginally better... but only just, and at the end, they all had to run even more laps while their superior walked away in frustration. 

Thankfully, even as tired as they were, they all had pretty incredible stamina. The only one she seemed to consistently be able to even remotely keep up with was Danny, and he'd paced himself well enough that by the end that he'd easily been a lap ahead of her. Part of her wondered if he had done that just so she didn't feel so bad when she finished last. Jake easily completed the laps first and Randy wasn't that far behind him.

Fortunately, she still had Tikki, who kept up a constant chatter in French and made Marinette feel much better, even when she was the last one who, tired and hungry, walked out of the empty gym.

She's surprised t find Randy waiting for her.

He stood in the large, featureless hall, leaning back against the wall nonchalantly. She wasn't sure if he'd been waiting there for her or not until he spotted her, stood up and walked forward.

"Hey, I totally know what it's like to be the new guy on the team," he said by way of introduction. "And I know we got off on the wrong foot, but I what you did in there was totally bruce. Sorry I made you think that you being here is an insult."

Marinette blinked, tried to understand what he had said and then figured she'd gotten the gist of it. She asked Tikki just to make sure, and was happy when it turned out that she'd been right. "Merci," she said, turning back to him with a smile.

"That being said, you gotta realize that this isn't Paris anymore. I know you're used to working with others (so you have a leg up on me, really), but this is a new team. Get to know us all. And I know I'm the last one anyone wants to hear this from, but don't worry so much about proving yourself. Believe in the weapon inside the suit," he said with a grin, then poked her in the chest above her heart.

She blinked in surprised as he shot her another smile and turned to walked away.

Marinette asked Tikki to translate what she didn't understand (apparently Kwami's could do that — she blamed magic). Then she stared after the boy with a thoughtful expression. Perhaps she'd misjudged him.

The next day when he farted in her face and then laughed about it, she dismissed that thought.

xXx

She didn't know why Jake Long avoided her like the plague. When he did see her, he'd scowl or get this expression on his face, like he needed to go to the bathroom or something. Then he'd turn and just walk in the other direction.

At first she'd thought it was just something about her being new, but it hadn't gotten any better after a few weeks. If anything it had gotten worse and had even begun to show up in their group training sessions. Finally, after about two weeks of him more or less pretending she didn't exsit, she decided that if no one else would address it, then she would. She managed to corner him one day after a particularly grueling session, walking up with her hands on her hips.

"Monsieur Long," she said, perhaps a little heatedly. He turned at the sound of his name, saw her coming and frowned. She could already see him shifting to make a break for it. "Do not run!" she yelled. Thankfully, he stopped.

She nodded approvingly. "Now, tell moi why you 'ave problem?"

He looked around nervously. "Um, I don't have a problem with anything."

"Non! You 'ave problem avec moi. Why?"

"Um, I don't even know you very well, so—"

"I not... am not dumb. You do not like me."

He frowned and seemed to think about that for a moment. Then he looked surprised. "You're right. Go figure."

"Well?" she pressed.

Jake was quiet for quite a while. "I think you remind me of my sister. Half Chinese, super powers, pigtails, everyone thinks the world of you, you're cute and you know it. I've just had issues in the past is all. Didn't realize I was shifting it on to you. My bad."

She glanced to Tikki to help with the translation, but when she'd finished, Marinette nodded.

"Then problem non more?"

Jake cocked his head to one side, then ruffled her hair. She squawked and shoved his hand away.

"Nah. I think you'll be a different kind of little sister anyway."

Marinette blinked at his declaration, then smiled. This was him saying he'd try, she realized. Besides, she'd never had an older brother before.

He still had problems after that, but she could tell he was working at it, and their interactions were getting better. That, she supposed, would be enough for now.


	3. The New Guy -- Side Story

Chat landed on the Eiffel Tower and walked slowly to the edge. He could hear exclamations and curses in English and just see a bit of some material hanging on one side. How the boy currently dangling off the side of the monument, hanging by his  _pants_ (without being in them) had managed that, Chat still wasn't sure _._ He glanced over the edge to see another blond clutching that the material and raised an eyebrow.

"You know," Chat said in English (for once, all of his tutoring came in handy, go figure), "I 'ave zis friend. I think you two might be related."

The other blond boy scowled up at him. "Are you Black Cat?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow. "Chat Noir." It was a name. They could say it right, English or not.

The boy's scowl deepened. "Could you not leave a guy hanging?"

Chat chuckled and decided he liked this other guy.

"Why do you think I'm related to this friend of yours?" the newcomer asked as Chat helped him up.

"Well, I 'ave been watching you for some time now, making sure you won't become an akuma or something," he said, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "First, judging by ze lunch you brought, kudos to you by ze way, you seem to be a pretty good cook, oui?" Chat said as the boy hurriedly stuffed his legs into his pants.

He paused and preened for a moment. "For anything but meat cakes."

Adrien blinked at the randomness of that. "Meat cakes?"

The guy looked him in the eye and said, in a deadly serious tone, "Fear the meat cakes."

The super hero blinked, thought about that for a moment, then decided to roll with it. "I'll keep zat in mind. And you seem like a decent guy."

"Um...thanks?"

"And you're about as clumsy as you can possibly be."

"I am not clumsy, I totally meant to do that."

Adrien laughed outright at that. "Oui, very much related to my friend."

"Do I get to meet her?" the kid asked, still looking skeptical. "I'm Ron, by the way."

Chat shook his head. "Most likely not. She is an exchange student in America right now. So, you were looking for me, non?"

The boy blinked at the non-sequitur. "Oh, yeah. See I'm here as backup while your Ladybug friend is out of town."

For the first time that conversation, Chat frowned. "Well, we don't 'ave a whole lot of things we need to protect ze town from now since we defeated Papillion," and he really,  _really_  tried not to cringe at that. It still hurt to think about his father.

"Yeah, but what happens if something  _does_  happen? It's like my friend, KP, says: gotta be prepared."

Chat could see the sense in that. "Alright, zen, 'ow can you 'elp me?"

"Well, I know all sorts of skills, and I have mystic monkey powers!" the American said, putting his hands and one foot into the air...it looked to be a poor copy of a crane stance. Chat raised one eyebrow, unimpressed. "No, seriously I do! Watch this! Hi-yah!" And with that, he launched out of the side of the Eiffel tower in a very impressive kick...or what would have been an impressive kick otherwise. Adrien's eyes went wide.

"Non, wait!" But it was too late. The American vaulted over the side of the railing and then realized just what he'd done and panicked.

Somehow the guy ended up hanging off the Eiffel tower by his pants  _again_. One day Adrien would look back and actually try to figure out exactly  _how_. Even after watching it he couldn't really explain it.

"Heh, heh. Alright, so maybe they don't just activate when I want them to. I mean, when I  _need_  them to they do, but... um... not when I don't really need them."

Adrien slapped his forehead...then he tried  _very_  hard not to laugh.

He failed.

xXx

It had surprised and saddened him to find out that Marinette was going on a foreign exchange program. He'd miss his friend almost as much as he missed his Lady. Both going away around the same time had shattered the little family he'd built for himself after...

Still, he'd known that people had to move on, live their own lives and what not. Ladybug said she'd been approached to become part of a super hero team, but that there was only room for one. Adrien hoped he had been more supportive than he'd felt. Not that he'd really blame anyone for choosing his Lady over him, but it still hurt. She promised she'd call him (and did so at least twice a week) and that helped.

He hadn't been able to see her off.

He  _had_  been able to be there when Mr. Dupan and Mrs. Chang had seen their daughter off. She'd seemed so nervous but excited and it had made him wonder what he wanted to do with his life after this. Continue modeling? (Although most agencies didn't want to deal with the stigma he had regarding his relation to Hawk Moth.) Just be a local super hero? (He had a trust fund that could get him by for several years if he wanted to.) Or something else?

He honestly had no clue.

He'd spoken to Nino about it, but the dude hadn't had a whole lot to say except that he'd support Adrien no matter what he decided. Adrien appreciated the sentiment, he did, but still.

Seeing as he didn't really have anything else to do in the day time, he'd begun to stop by the Dupan-Chang bakery when he woke up. They always received him warmly there and didn't seem to care about Hawk Moth, so he often spent the morning lounging on the bench near their window, happy to buy out half the store whenever he walked through the door. It had become a sort of routine for him, one of the few predictable, steadfast anchors in his life. Thus he froze in surprise when he walked through the door only to find his new 'partner' working there part time.

And he was even more shocked when Ron waved and gave him a big smile.

"Yo, dude!  _Monsuir Dupan, may I lunch now?_ " he turned to the large owner of the bakery and spoke in very broken, accented French.

The larger man looked surprised when his eyes darted to Adrien (who had gone into blue-screen-of-death mode for a moment and couldn't really respond) before shrugging and nodding.

" _Just be back soon,"_  he said.

"Got it!" Ron grabbed a few of the new pastries they'd been advertising and hurried outside, ushering Adrien with him.

"Yo, CN! Here! For my new best French buddy!"

That was enough to knock Adrien out of his stupor. "Not in public!" he hissed, trying to ignore how he may very well sound like a cat as he said the words.

Ron blinked. "Oh. Oh, right! With the secret identity and all. My bad."

Adrien sighed and looked around, but it didn't look like anyone had overheard them. And if they had, Ron had said everything in English, so that may have helped a little. Still, Adrien wasn't the only person in France to learn the language and...

That still begged the question.

"'Ow did you know?" he asked, grabbing Ron by the arm and dragging him around the side of the store to where they had a little more privacy.

The American just shrugged. "I dunno. You just looked like my friend, so I figured you were."

Adrien just stared. Then he finished registering what Ron had said. "It cannot be zat easy," he said incredulously. He ignored how he wanted to smile at the thought of having another friend and shook his head. "Zer are... 'ow do you say... illusions in ze miraculous,"

Ron shrugged and bit down on his pastry. "What, you mean like glamors or something? Doesn't seem that difficult to see through 'em to me. You gonna take this or do I get to eat it?"

He held out the second bun again and Adrien reluctantly took it. Then, with a sigh, he bit into it. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it wasn't what he got. Just how they'd come up with the idea of a cornmeal bun holding the contents of a taco inside it, and yet it still managed to make it  _sweet_  too Adrien would never guess. And just how all of that was different from meat cakes if this had all been (at least he strongly suspected) Ron's idea.

"Good, right?" Ron asked, grinning a little smugly.

"Oui," Adrien muttered, then shook his head. Focus. He was just glad he'd left Plagg napping in his locker at school. He could just imagine the little Kwami freaking out about this new development. "Zat is besides ze point. Why do you work here now?" He gestured to the bakery.

Ron shrugged. "I gotta learn French somehow. KP says the best way is to interact. Besides, I  _like_  baking and Mr. Dupan is totally happy to experiment." He said that last part with an ear-to-ear grin.

Adrien just blinked. That explained the taco buns. He had to admit, though, that they had come up with a very successful (if different) experiment.

"So you are working 'ere while Marinette is gone?" Adrien asked before taking another bite of the pastry. Or was it a main dish of some kind? He didn't really care, he was pretty sure he'd like some more. "Convenient."

Ron blinked at him, looking surprised. Then he blinked the surprise away and chuckled nervously. "Yeah, convenient. Look, I gotta go back in. See you tonight, though? You can show me your usual patrol routes."

Adrien really wanted to hit his head. Did this boy not know the meaning of the word 'quiet'?

"Oui, fine. Just do not tell anyone."

"You're secret's safe with me!" Ron said, stuffing the rest of the bun in his mouth and hurrying back inside.

It was only after that rather strange encounter that Adrien wondered how he'd be able to keep up with his and Ladybug's usual patrols unless he was able to bring out those supposed monkey powers (although he was beginning to believe the American had  _something_  magic to be able to see through his disguise). Well, he'd figure out that evening.

With a sigh, Adrien turned and braced himself. He'd have to tell Plagg that someone knew he was Chat Noir and wasn't looking forward to the conversation. At least he didn't have to explain it to his Lady.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Tears hair out* THERE HAS TO BE A PERCEPTION FILTER FOR THEM TO BE THAT OBLIVIOUS!


	4. Agent Possible

 “You know,” Jake said with a groan as he plopped down beside Marinette on the couch they used in the team lounge, “I hate non-transformation days.”

 “Seconded,” Danny grumbled from where he lay, face-down on the floor, hugging a generic looking pillow.

 “At least we don't have to go to school like Randy does,” Jake continued. “He looked like he just wanted to collapse when he left today.”

 “Bet he hates these kinds of days more,” Danny agreed, lifting his face from his pillow and looking tiredly up at them, “but I still hate them.”

 Marinette blinked at them. “Why? It makes us strong, non?”

 Jake just shot her an incredulous look and then groaned even louder, throwing his head back on the couch.

 “Just our luck, we get two work-a-holic girls on our team!”

 Marinette raised a bemused eyebrow. “Two?”

 The boys looked over at her, incredulously.

 “You mean, you don't know?” Danny asked, blue eyes wide.

 “Seriously? I thought everyone knew,” Jake agreed, looking just as shocked.

 Marinette sent them both a glare that would have made Chat Noir cringe. “What?”

 Jake and Danny exchanged glances before the former shook his head. “Look up 'Kim Possible' in English one of these days. Like... today. Now would be good.”

 The French girl just frowned and took out her phone, doing as he'd suggested.

 Five minutes later, her annoyance had dropped back to shock.

 “Zis is...Agent Possible?” Alright, she'd heard about the strange incident that had been world-changing, but she'd been what, seven at the time? Something like that. 

 Jake nodded and Danny snorted in amusement. Marinette couldn't believe her eyes. Their superior officer was a  _hero_  who had saved the world.  _The world! From aliens!_ She didn't even know aliens were actually a thing. She supposed she could understand the 'world-changing' part now.

 “And she doesn't even have super powers,” Danny volunteered, his voice slightly muffled by the pillow.

 “ _I don't believe you,”_ Marinette burst out in French, letting Tikki translate for her.

 Jake shrugged. “Go ask her about it.”

 Marinette decided she would do just that.

 xXx

 “Is zis you?” Marinette asked Agent Possible when she saw her next, practically throwing her phone at the other woman, who took a step back and then focused on the screen.

 “Oh, huh. I'd forgotten they'd taken that picture.”

 Marinette balked. “And... did you really not 'ave super strength?”

 Kim laughed at that. “Well, I had a super advanced suit at one point, but otherwise, not even close. There were a couple of times when I found myself with some strange power, but most of the time, it was just me and my partner. I got where I am today through talent, sheer hard work and a little bit of luck.”

The dark haired girl took her phone back and looked at the picture on it of a much younger Kim Possible and a blond boy posing for pictures.

“Oh,” she said, suddenly feeling like she very much couldn't measure up. It had taken a Miraculous to give her any sort of worth.

“Ladybug,” Tikki said, floating in front of her face with her little hands on her hips, “I know that face. Its the one where you're not doing yourself any favors and telling yourself you aren't good enough.”

Marinette bit her lip and looked away.

“That's not what I meant at all,” Agent Possible agreed, sounding sad and making Marinette feel even guiltier. She wasn't supposed to make her superior officer upset. Would she get reprimanded for this? She certainly felt like she should. “I mean that you don't always have to have powers to be amazing. And something tells me that you'd be just as amazing without your little friend here.”

She glanced at Tikki. “No offense.”

The Kwami just grinned and nodded. “I agree.”

“ _Then you don't know me,_ ” Marinette muttered.

Agent Possible frowned. “Let's prove you wrong.” Marinette blinked and looked up at her again, confused. “In two months, I will have you spar Randy, without transforming. He will be in costume, you won't.” Marinette squeaked. “If you can't hold your own at all, we'll revisit this conversation. Until then, I wouldn't have taken you on my team if I didn't think you had it in you.”

“B-but,” the dark-haired girl started.

“Nope. You need confidence. So we'll do what we have to to get you some. I hope you're ready for the workout of your life.”

Marinette just groaned.


	5. Danny

Marinette didn't know what to make of Daniel Fenton. She'd noticed that he didn't seem to much care for standing out... or using his powers in general and it made her curious. However, the idea of approaching someone who may or may not be dead at any given point made her understandably nervous, so she settled for simply watching him. Now she'd been a part of the team for a few weeks, and she'd only seen him fly, turn invisible and faze through things. Jake, who had been his partner the longest, said he'd initially had issues with showing off when they'd met. In the two years following, Danny had stopped showing off almost completely, but now Agent Possible was afraid that he wasn't pushing himself either. 

"He doesn't tend to push himself unless he's trying to protect someone," Jake explained when Marinette voiced her observations. "But if we ever fight a ghost, you'll see. He's pretty amazing. Probably the most powerful of all of us." He said that with enough jealousy that Marinette had no doubt he believed it, but it surprised her. After being here for almost two years, according to Jake, Danny had had the longest time to work up stamina, and yet he could barely keep ahead of her in their civilian forms when they ran laps. Sure flying was pretty amazing, but could he really be that powerful? She kind of hoped not because as he was now, he was far more approachable.

After that, she watched him more closely during their exercises and was able to pick up on the fact that he saw openings, but didn't take advantage. The way he noticed something and then would frown, but wouldn't move to do anything. He was holding back, she realized. He always held back unless they needed him... and sometimes even then.

This troubled her. If they were a team, shouldn't they all be working their hardest? She could have taken her concerns and observations to Agent Possible, but somehow, she got the idea that the older woman wanted them to work these things out on their own if they could, and her attempts with Jake had succeeded for the most part, so she decided to muster her courage and confront him herself.

"Daniel?" she asked the older boy at lunch one day. Randy was at school (apparently protecting his school was part of the deal he'd struck with EPO) and Jake had the week off to visit family so it was just the two of them in the small dining area.

He winced and looked up at her with a somewhat forced smile. "Danny. Call me Danny. I don't like the name 'Dan' and I don't like people calling me 'Daniel'."

She'd been getting better at her English and caught most of that.

"Apologies," she said with a nod. "May I sit?" She gestured to the seat across from him. He blinked.

"Oh, sure. Yeah, go ahead."

"Sank you," she replied with a nod and a big smile. They ate in silence for several minutes before she brought it up.

"You like to 'old back," she said as non-judgmentally as she could. Then she cocked her head to one side. "Why?"

Danny blinked at her, raised an eyebrow and then laughed softly. "Smart kid, huh? Well, I could get through most of the obstacle courses they've set up for us by myself. I could faze through objects, doors, ceilings, floors, glass, cement... almost anything I want to, really. Not many places have a ghost shield, so unless we go to my home town, it's all fair game."

He shook his head and reached for another slice of meat. "Thing is," he said around the food (much to her consternation) "this is all meant to be a group exercise, so I hold back so other people can get a chance. Besides, it lets me observe."

Marinette cocked her head to one side. "You don't sound like you believe zat."

Danny smiled at her. "Gotta introduce you to my cousin sometime. You remind me of her. I think You'd like her. You're about the same age... ish."

"I wonder, 'ow can we know you?" Marinette asked, ignoring his tangent.

The black-haired teen frowned at her, putting his fork down. "What do you mean?"

"You see us, you know us, but we non know you."

He still looked blank for several seconds before his eyes lit up in realization. "Oh! Is  _that_  what you're talking about? You want to see what I can do, huh?"

Marinette blinked and then smiled. "Oui."

Danny thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "Sure. Why not? I'll go let Kim know we'll be leaving for a while."

The French girl blinked. "Pardonne-moi?"

xXx

"See," Danny said from where floated in the wind with Marinette on his back. Or where  _one_  of him floated while they looked down on an identical copy which happened to be standing in an empty field. "There are some things I can do that level buildings... or lots of buildings, so I can't show off in the tower."

Marinette couldn't help but be a little worried. Even Chat, who could destroy  _anything,_  couldn't do that kind of damage in a single go.

"Here, put these on," Danny said, handing her a pair of ear plugs. Then he eyed Tikki. "I don't have ear plugs small enough for you," he said slowly. He didn't seem all that comfortable around her.

"That's okay," Tikki said with a warm smile. Then she held out her hand and a small pair popped up.

" _I didn't know you could do that,_ " Marinette said in French, a little surprised.

" _Of course I can, Marinette. I am the Kwami of creation after all._ " The little fairy giggled.

"Alright, ear plugs in."

Marinette put them in. Then she noted that Danny still covered his ears after that and, reluctantly, she did the same.

Then she proceeded to watch him completely decimate the area around him...  _with sound_. Not that there was much  _to_  decimate, but even Marinette could see the utter destruction his scream would make had anything else been near him. Even up this far, she could hear how devastating it would be  _through the ear plugs and her hands_. Suddenly, not doing this in the tower seemed like a very smart idea.

"Alright," Danny said, taking the ear plugs out. Marinette followed suit. "Done with that. I call it a 'Ghostly Wail', but Kim wants to rename it 'Banshee Wail'. Anyway, watch."

The entire area around the guy on the ground froze over in ice.

Marinette's eyes widened.

The Danny on the ground flew to random places across the frozen field and raised pillars of ice. Then he started shooting green blasts from his hands and destroying said pillars. Then he'd lift up giant blocks of ice and throw them at remaining pillars.

Then, she saw him pause on one side of the field and in a blur and a few breaths, he appeared on the other.

" _Did he just teleport?"_  Marinette asked Tikki.

"I think you just asked if I teleported," Danny interrupted with a chuckle. "No, I haven't figured that out yet. I've been working on teleporting and making portals recently. That could be immensely useful."

Marinette could only blink her wide eyes. Then she saw him throw up energy shields of all sorts in many different shapes, disappear into the ground and appear in another place...

"What can you...  _not_  do?"

Danny rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. It reminded her a little of Chat (except far more modest) and made her heart ache a little for home.

"Well, I can't create anything out of thin air."

She tried to wrap her head around that, then she just giggled.

"You are sweet."

He grinned. "I also can't use telekinesis or telepathy or hypnosis. Some ghosts can. I can't find portals or other energy sources unless it's ghost-related and even then it's more hit-or-miss. I also don't do anything with fire, earth or lightning. My element is ice. I don't have power over time..." he paused and looked away, "and I hope I never get that power. I don't control or manipulate emotions or dreams... well, I guess  _technically_  I can, but it's definitely not a strength and takes a lot out of me."

She just cocked her head at him, staring incredulously. "Strange when list of what is possible outgrows non-possible."

"Yeah, well, I gave up a lot for this power," he suddenly looked down sadly. "I'll never be able to have kids and I'm stuck in a sort of limbo between the living and the dead. I'm still growing now, but...it's slowing down. Eventually, I might stop altogether. I don't know if I'll ever die and I'll have to watch everyone else move on without me. And then there's this," he held up his hand, showing off a bracelet she'd noticed before but not thought much of. It had a green, blinking light. "The government doesn't want to let me off their watch." He sighed. "The problem is, I don't blame them."

Marinette frowned, not liking the sound of that at all, and Danny seemed so... resigned. She bit her lip and looked down in time to see the other Danny come up to join them.

"Did you see everything?" he asked.

The Danny with Marinette nodded. "Most of it, in any case. Any questions, Ladybug?"

Marinette shook her head.

"Alright, then, let's head back," the second Danny said.

She found it funny that Danny reminded her of Chat in more ways than one. He put on a happy face (albeit less annoying and flirty, but she couldn't be more grateful for that) to cover up his loneliness and pain, was far more powerful than he usually let on and was actually a very open, honest guy when you got to know him. The idea of Chat in chains like that, though, sent shivers up her spine.

Of all of her new teammates, she felt that she'd probably get along with Danny the most. Kind of ironic, actually, seeing as she'd been so nervous around him initially.

"Danny," she said quietly, "Merci, for trusting me."

He seemed to relax a little. "Any time, kid."

She huffed. "I will be sixteen ans Mardi."

Danny looked over his shoulder at her. "Mardi?"

"Tuesday," Tikki volunteered.

The white-haired boy seemed a little surprised. "Oh, okay then. How about 'teammate' then?"

Marinette thought about that for a moment. "Oui," she said with a satisfied nod.


	6. Birthday

"I wanted to warn you," Agent Possible said as she walked up to Marinette, who turned to face her attentively, "that the boys are getting a bit... enthusiastic about your birthday."

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise. "Mon anniversaire?"

Kim just winked at her. "You may want to be careful is all. Oh, and act surprised."

"B-but mon anniversaire est... is tomorrow."

The red-head nodded. "Sure it is. But you're leaving to be with your family tonight, right?"

Tikki giggled while Marinette blinked at that. "Oh. Oui."

The agent laughed. "Just know that they can be a bit on the... overzealous side. That's the only reason I warned you. Now, if anyone asks, I'm talking with you about your recent improvements while we walk to the gym."

She started to walk off and Marinette had to scramble to catch up with her. "Improvements?"

Agent Possible smiled encouragingly. "Not just in your English."

"You have really improved, Ladybug," Tikki said encouragingly. "You're able to follow most English conversations now and I haven't had to translate for you in a while."

The dark-haired girl felt a blush rise to her cheeks and a warmth in her chest. She'd worked and studied hard, and it looked like it had paid off.

"Not to mention your progress in the hand to hand martial arts I've been showing you, lately. If you keep up like this, you may very well be ready for weapons by Christmas."

Marinette's ego deflated. "Zat long?" she asked.

Kim laughed again, not at her though, and Marinette couldn't help but feel grateful that she'd gotten such a great superior.

"You're doing well, kid. Most people don't get to weapons in their first year."

"Oh," the super-hero replied. Then she smiled, softer this time. "Merci."

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it, Ladybug," The older woman said.

"Marinette," she whispered. Agent Possible froze.

"What?"

"Je m'apelle Marinette."

The woman just stared at her charge for several minutes before she smiled sadly. "You don't have to tell me your name, you know."

"You know ze ozers," Marinette pointed out.

The agent nodded. "Yes, but I wanted to let you know that you don't have to tell me anything about yourself. I don't want you to feel pushed into telling me anything.  _I don't care who you are outside the suit. To me you're just as trustworthy either way, and I don't have to know your name to know that._

" _All the same,"_  she stood and Marinette blinked at the bright smile,  _"I'm honored you would tell me."_

"Merci," was all Marinette could say to that. " _But I don't mind. You can call me by my real name, if you'd like."_

Agent Possible nodded.  _"I'd like that."_

xXx

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

Marinette jumped back, surprised at the gutso behind the words, even though she'd been expecting all of this.

Well, mostly. Ice sculptures hung from the ceiling in such a way that made the entire gym look like it was glowing. Actually, it really was glowing now that she studied it all. And it was gorgeous. Even with the cheesy streamers and balloons.

Her three teammates had jumped out at her (except for Danny, he'd just appeared out of mid-air), each with party hats and presents. They'd also set up a small table off to the side with a little, store-bought cake that said: "Bon Anniversaire, Ladybug!" Their attempt at French warmed her heart.

"You scared me," she said, putting a hand over her heart. By her side, Tikki giggled.

"Yeah, right," Danny said with a roll of his eyes. "If you were  _really_ startled, I'd feel it." He shot an annoyed look at Agent Possible, who shrugged and didn't stop smiling.

"Here! Open my gift first!" Randy said eagerly, shoving a long, thin package at her. "It's the  _cheese_!"

"Oh, er, merci," she said uncertainly as she began to tear at the wrapping. It revealed a long, cardboard tube, which held...

"Une épée?" she asked, holding the heavy object up.

"If by 'épée' you mean 'sword', then yeah! I had this specially made! Now you can have a secret weapon in your suit too!"

She wasn't so sure about that, but she could tell that some skill had gone into making this, as it looked extremely sharp and she could see the lines of folded steel. She didn't  _want_  to know how much this had cost him. Although, she had to admit, she wasn't exactly keen on the idea of swordplay.

"I'll add sword training to the list, then," Agent Possible spoke up from behind her.

"I... non know what to say," she whispered. Then she walked over to him and gave him a hug. He stiffened.

"Eh, don't mention it."

She laughed and kissed both of his cheeks nonetheless. She'd have to come up with something  _really_  good to give to him for his birthday.

"Wow, that makes mine look kinda pathetic," Jake muttered, looking down at the little package in his hands.

Marinette sighed. "None of you 'ad to do zis. I am just grateful to be on the team, non?"

"Yeah, well, we wanted to," Danny said, then nudged Jake with his elbow.

Sighing, Jake stepped forward and handed her the package, not even as big as his hand. She opened it to find two beautiful, red ribbons.

"They're magic," Jake said, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "They're true lucky charms; enchanted to enhance your luck and the luck of your allies. They should be there with or without your transformation and they can change color. Here," he touched one and said, "blue." It changed before her eyes.

She couldn't help her jaw dropping open. This... this was actually  _very_  thoughtful and beyond useful.

"Zis is  _wonderful,_  Jake," she said as she threw her arms around him and then kissed his cheeks too.

He looked surprised, but happy.

"Don't mention it."

"I will," she insisted, handing her sword to Agent Possible so she could put the ribbons in her hair immediately. Once she finished, she grinned at him. "And I will wear zem always."

His smile grew even bigger.

"Well, I guess the last one's mine, unless Agent Possible has what I think she does," Danny said with a glance towards their superior. His package was the smallest of all. A tiny bag that easily fit in the palm of her hand.

She reached inside, felt a chain and pulled it out. The gem on the bottom looked like a simple, but large diamond. Except it was cold to the touch. So Ice. Danny's ice.

"It won't melt," he said. "And if you hold it in your hands and think of me, I'll know to come find you. It can act like a homing beacon too."

She raised an eyebrow.

Danny looked a little sheepish. "Well, I gave one to everyone on the team. Yours just looks better. That's real silver, you know."

Marinette laughed, gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheeks too. "It is beautiful. I will cherish it."

"Well, I guess that just leaves me," Agent Possible said with a grin. "Although I did help Randy pay for that sword."

"Hey!" Randy protested. "I'm the one that got the Sword Master to even consider making it."

"True. And he did pay for half of it," Agent Possible whispered, "It wasn't cheap."

Marinette shot him a smile anyway. "It is still wonderful, Randy," she assured him. He looked torn between pouting and preening. Marinette giggled.

"Here," Agent Possible handed her a small, round communicator. "This will put you in contact with my friend, Wade, who can put you in contact with me. This is yours to keep, even if you leave the team. If you ever need help, call Wade. He's great at research and is a tech wiz like you wouldn't believe. I don't know if you can incorporate this into your transformation," she glanced over at Tikki, who just looked thoughtful, "but in or out of costume, you can ask for his help. He'll be honest and let you know if he can help you or not.

"Actually, here," she switched the communicator on.

"Kim! I never hear from you anymore!"

"Hey, Wade," she said with a smile and a voice full of nostalgia. "I want you to meet my newest team member."

"Oh? Another one? The one Ron's covering for?"

Kim nodded. "That's the one."

Marinette wondered what she meant by 'covering'.

Before she could think further on it, though, Kim placed the communicator in her hands.

"B-bonjour," she said to the dark-skinned man on the screen. He had a round face and short hair, but he also had a glint in his eye that made Marinette realize that this wasn't someone she wanted to be enemies with.

"Salute," he responded with a smile.

"Oh," Agent Possible whispered to him, "he's also a genius. Speaks a few different languages."

"A few?" Wade asked, sounding offended. Then he shook his head and looked up at Marinette. "Joyeux anniversaire."

She giggled. "Merci."

"Well, I gotta head out," he said. "Laterz!"

With that, the screen went blank.

"I've given one to each of the team on their birthday or just before their first real mission," Agent Possible replied.

"Wait," Jake piped up with a frown, "I thought 'happy birthday' was 'bon anniversaire'. That's what Google Translate said."

"Well, the French sing, 'Joyeux Anniversaire'," Agent Possible broke in, "But she got the idea. It isn't unheard of to tell someone 'good birthday' either, which is essentially what 'bon anniversaire' translates to."

Jake sighed. "I'm trying to learn Mandarin now. How can I learn French too?"

"No need," Marinette said with a grin. "I speak English rather well, non?"

He grinned at her. "Yeah."

"Hey," Randy interrupted from where he stood over by the cake, "are we gonna cut this or not?"

Marinette was sure she wasn't the only one rolling her eyes.


	7. Side Story -- New Guy Part 2

The first time Marinette meets Ron Stoppable, she doesn't really know what to make of him. Not only is he  _working_  at her parents' store, but he takes one look at her and lights up. He introduces himself in somewhat broken French and she's  _sure_  she's seen him  _somewhere_  before, even if she can't quite place it. But then her parents draw her attention away before she can figure it out.

She doesn't really remember what excuse they make that sends them in back and leaves her alone with their new employee, but they do. It's quiet and Marinette has been asked to stay for a moment while her parents get something (probably a cake if she knows anything about them) ready. Really, they should know better by now.

That's when Ron Stoppable speaks up. In English. "Hey, LB, do you know what this one costs if I put it together with this one in a basket?"

He was pointing to a few different things in one of the cases, but she doesn't know what because she's just staring at him in horror.

"Oh, come on, I'm still new at this!" he practically whines when she doesn't answer and he looks up to see her incredulous look.

"'Ow did... wait... Why did you call me zat?"

He blinked at her. "Short for Ladybug."

Marinette felt her heart stop.

" _What? I'm not... I mean, I just..._ "

He didn't respond, just staring at her and blinking, obviously not buying it.

" _How did you know_?" Then she paused. How much French did this guy even speak? She needed to sick to English. "'Ow did you know?" she asked, hoping she didn't sound shaken.

It's the guy's turn to stare at her before he scoffed. "Your cat guy asked the same thing. Come on, it's not that difficult to figure it out, and I  _have_  seen pictures of you suited up before. I mean, pigtails, black hair, you happened to leave about the same time..." He shook his head. " _How_  does all of Paris not know? And no, I've never met you before, though KP talks about you all the time. She really likes you, by the way. Oh, and she still doesn't know who you are. I just figured it out on my own."

Marinette tries to shake the thought from her mind, hoping she can wrap her head around all of this. She glances back to the bakery, but can hear her parents discussing something on the other side of the room. Thank goodness. Then she turns and levels him with a glare.

"Our magic prevents people from... 'ow do you say? Draw conclusions. So 'ow did you? And 'oo are you really?"

The guy doesn't quite flinch, but he may as well have. "Ouch. That look's almost as bad as KP's. Well, I have a... condition that has to do with ancient magic powers and my naked mole-rat, Rufus, and a lava pit and a really smart, if very crazy, monkey guy. I guess it allows me to see through all of that magic or something."

Right, that brought something else he said to mind. "And you know 'oo Chat Noir is?"

The blond cocked his head at her. "Yeah. I'm surprised you don't."

"We 'ave reasons," she said defensively.

He held up his hands, placating. "I get it, LB. I won't tell."

She wanted to smack him one and had to hold herself back as she practically hissed at him (she'd been hanging around her kitty too much... or maybe not enough and was having withdrawals?), "Do not call me zat! My parents are  _right zere_!"

He just raised an eyebrow and got a smug look. "I thought you said the magic prevents people from finding out. I just figured that would extend to me."

"I'd razzer not test it!" she growled.

"You don't have a Kwami or a Miraculous," a new voice had Marinette glancing around frantically. Her eyes finally landed on Tikki, who floated in front of M. Stoppable, her arms folded and a glare on her normally open and welcome face.

"No," he said slowly and leaned down to study her. "Like I said, Mystic Monkey Powers. That's what I got. What's a Kwami?"

"I'm a Kwami. We're ancient fairies attached to a Miraculous, and the holder of that Miraculous has powers. Are you going to hurt Marinette?"

Right about then, the teenager realized that her Kwami had revealed herself to protect her holder. Marinette couldn't help but feel touched. She did wonder what the little Kwami thought she could do without her holder, but the thought counted.

"Huh?" The boy looked honestly confused. "Why would I hurt her? I know too many people who would kill me if I tried. Chat Noir, KP, Rufus... he'd be the worst."

Wait, wasn't Rufus his naked mole rat?

"Your... pet?" Marinette asked slowly.

M. Stoppable shuddered. "You've never seen him angry. Besides, he has mystic monkey powers too, and he can use them better than I can."

This was sounding more and more like a Kwami and less and less like a pet.

And she still couldn't place... wait.

"You know Agent Possible!"

The guy raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Uh, yeah. We're married."

xXx

Finding out that Ron Stoppable was an agent himself came as a shock. Finding out that he was  _married_  to Agent Possible ("You really call her that! Ha, ha! She hates it when people do that!") came as a bigger shock. Finding out that he was here on her special request to help Chat Noir out while she was gone felt more like the icing on the cake.

"Why didn't she tell me?" Marinette asked herself after having found a stool her parents kept in the back in case someone needed to sit down... like now.

"It was in the welcome packet," Ron (call me by my first name, I'm not old yet!) said with a mouth-full of the strange, new pastry. "If you get called away from protection duty, someone will be sent to fill in. I actually only found out about you and your... uh, other side after I started working here. Wondered why I was drawn to this place, then I found out about you and it all made sense."

Marinette blinked, she did remember reading something about that, but it had slipped her mind to ask. She mentally kicked herself.

Then she thought about the others on her team. "Does Randy 'ave 'elp?"

Ron nodded. "Of course. I even helped him for a while. Posed as a janitor for his school. Not a terrible job, all things considered. Lots and lots of rebuilding, though. And they paid  _really_  well for a janitor."

"Oh," Marinette looked down, still trying to process all of this.

"What about Jake and Danny?"

Ron popped the rest of the pastry into his mouth and chewed for a bit before swallowing. Well, at least he knew better than to talk with his mouth full (unlike a few other American boys she could name).

"We jumped on a deal with Jake's family as fast as we could. They have hundreds of years of magical training. I even trained under his teacher for a while. That was harsh, dude. Dogs and mystic monkeys do  _not_  get along."

The random things he said really tended to throw Marinette for a loop.

She wondered if Chat felt the same.

Before she could voice any questions, though, he went on.

"Danny's a special case. His home town has lots of protectors and, due to some legal junk that KP knows more about, we can't send anyone in there without special permission. There's a portal to the ghost realm there and we're treating it like another country for now."

Marinette felt her eyes grow wide. " _Ghost_  realm?! You mean where people go when zey die?"

Ron looked thoughtful at that. "Well, some people. We're not a hundred percent sure, but there are all sorts of classifications that I can't remember (don't tell KP that), but not everyone who dies goes there and some of the ghosts there were never alive. It's... weird."

Sounded like it.

"I..." She faded off and started muttering under her breath in French.

"Hey, don't worry about it, L...er, Mari!" She looked up, glaring at him for using such an informal address. He didn't seem to notice. "They'll teach you all about ghosts if you have to go up against one."

"Go up against one?!"

"Well," he started, but then his eyes darted to the door to the bakery and he gestured in that direction. Marinette realized she couldn't hear her parents anymore and rose to go and check on them just as her father came through the door.

" _Was that you speaking in English?"_  her father asked, looking surprised.

Marinette rubbed the back of her head, a little self conscious. "Oui."

" _You've really improved,"_ he said with a smile.  _"I always knew you were as smart as your mother."_

" _Tom,"_  Sabine said with fond exasperation. Then she glanced over to her daughter and shared a look that made Marinette giggle.

" _Watch the front, will you, Ron?"_  her father asked.

"Oui, M. Dupain!" He said it with a bright grin and a smile. Then he looked at Marinette. "Nice talkin' to ya."

She nodded, a little uncertainly, before her parents showed her into the back room, where they'd set up a mini 'welcome back/happy birthday' party, complete with a cake that would most likely last them the rest of the month.

Marinette couldn't be more grateful that some things, at least, never changed.


	8. The Team: Spar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Marinette goes up against a teammate with some pretty big handicaps.

Marinette Took a deep breath and looked over at Tikki. " _I... I'm really nervous._ "

Tikki smiled sympathetically. " _Anyone would be. You're going up against someone with powers when you're not powered up yourself. But you've been working_ hard _at this, Marinette._ "

And she had. She'd worked almost every day for the last month and a half, for hours and hours on end learning the martial arts that Agent Kim (Seriously, stop calling me Agen0t 0Possible. It makes me feel old) had taught her. She'd gone to bed more tired than she'd felt since those late-night akuma back during Hawk Moth.

She could still barely touch her instructors, but they insisted that she was doing very well, learning quickly and adapting well. She had to admit, she felt stronger... but Randy had a supernatural mask that gave him super powers. She got boosts from Tikki, even out of the suit, but nothing next to that.

" _You'll always find yourself going up against someone stronger, faster or smarter than you. There are still ways to win. It's our job to_ find _those ways."_  That's what Agent Kim had said. The way she spoke made Marinette very glad that they hadn't been deemed 'deploy-able' yet.

Well, she wasn't.

Jake and Danny and Kim and even Randy had gone out on a few missions, leaving her behind. She felt badly, but trained twice as hard whenever she was there alone. And it showed.

Or she hoped it would.

"There you are!" Agent Kim's bright voice broke her out of her musings. "So, are you ready for this?"

Marinette took a deep breath and shook her head. "Non. But we cannot always be ready, oui?"

Agent Kim smiled at her. "I think you're more ready than you think you are."

The red-clad girl took another deep breath. "I 'ope you are right."

The older woman looked Marinette over with a frown. "Are you sure you want to do this in your spare suit? We could still get you some loose clothing. This is, after all, just an exercise."

Just a spar. Somehow, it felt like more than that to Marinette. She shook her head.

"Non. Merci, but I will be fighting like zis in ze field, oui? Zis is 'ow I would like to fight today."

The red-head smiled. "Good answer. Alright then, let's head in there. Remember, as soon as the door opens, the spar begins. Give me a few minutes to get to the observation deck. See you in a few.

As she walked off, Tikki flew up in front of Marinette.

" _What are you going to do, Marinette?"_

The dark-haired girl blinked.  _"What do you mean, Tikki?"_

The Kwami cocked her head.  _"Well you'll need to have a plan, right? I mean, Randy has a magic suit and is used to some pretty hard training. He also knows how you fight."_

" _But I also know how he fights... and how he thinks."_

Tikki smiled.  _"Right. So, what are you going to do?"_

Marinette returned her smile, and then winked.  _"I'm going to go in like I'm fighting an akuma."_

xXx

As soon as the door opened, Marinette peeked inside, head low on the ground. There was a rack right by her that she could hide behind, so she did. She knew Randy would be coming in on the other side of the gym. She tried to see, but couldn't due to the equipment that had been left in the way. Some of the gym had been set up with large blocks to jump over, and, naturally, his door was on the opposite side of that. Of course, that meant he wouldn't know where she was too. She took a deep breath and continued on the thought process she'd started outside.

He'd probably go for a hiding spot in the shadows – of which there were plenty because if they wanted the lights on, they'd have to turn them on themselves. He'd have the advantage because she couldn't blend in as well in her bright red suit. But if he got the drop on her, that would be the end. No, she'd have to go on the offensive and it would be a matter of drawing him out.

This would work best for her if she could get this over with before they actually started fighting. Of course, Agent Kim would probably make them spar anyway, but the beginning part of this had been designed to be far more like a real life situation. Even all of the equipment and racks had been moved to make things more unpredictable.

" _Alright,"_  she said to herself ,  _"if I just did a lucky charm, and something fell into my hands..."_  She hadn't been allowed to fight with her new sword yet, so she had her hands free. She also didn't have her yo-yo (and she'd definitely have to talk to Jake about seeing if they could make her a mgaic yo-yo she could use in every day situations like this). She had some weights, though. That was the equipment rack she was hiding behind. She also had Tikki.

Tikki who glowed red.

" _Tikki_ ," she said softly, " _I may need a distraction_." She eyed the nearest rack of weights.

The Kwami's eyes widened. " _Marinette, aren't you supposed to do this on your own?"_

" _No,"_  Marinette said with a conspiring smile.  _"I'm supposed to use whatever – or whoever – I have on hand if I can't go into a transformation. And since I'll always have you..."_

Tikki just raised one eyebrow skeptically before she broke into soft giggles.  _"Alright, Marinette, what do you want me to do?"_

xXx

Randy had to admit, he wasn't really trying his hardest. That wasn't to say he wasn't taking this seriously, but it was a girl at least two years younger than him, who didn't have as much experience who also wasn't transformed. It was Ladybug, so he knew he'd have to be on his guard, but he just couldn't get himself worked up like he did with the baddies he faced more or less every day.

Besides, Ladybug wouldn't hurt him, just like he wouldn't hurt her. He was her teammate.

He decided to go the defensive route this time, knowing that he had the advantage if he crossed her. First he'd have find a place to watch the door he knew she'd entered from, as quickly as possible, then hide and observe until it was the right time to strike.

Simple, really.

He frowned at that as he thought back to what the Nomicon had told him before the fight. "Simple is as simple does." But did that mean that he should embrace the simplicity or reject it? He wanted to sigh. He never got what the Nomicon wanted to tell him until just the right moment. He was pretty sure that he wasn't the only ninja who found that frustrating. It was still sad that he'd only have the thing for another seven or so months before he had to pass it on to a new ninth-grader. He already had a few options he had his eye on, even if the Nomicon had the final say and...

Wait, focus.

He took a deep breath and continued to wait, using his suit to its fullest extent, hiding in the shadows as he kept his eyes out for a flash of red that should be visible, even in the relative darkness of the gym.

He hated waiting like this.

Which is probably why the Nomicon had focused on this part all too often, recently. "A true ninja has the ultimate patience." And hadn't he learned that one the hard way? Stupid sorceress, stupid dark magic, stupid targeted school. He really needed to find a way to merge her with her other self (most likely in the shadow realm somewhere, if he could only find  _where_ ) or at least trap her under the school like the Sorcerer had been.

Yeah, like he could do that without drawing the attention of the entire town and McFist and –

A flash of color had him whipping his head to follow it and he simultaneously berated himself for getting lost in his own thoughts a second time, but instead, he smirked. His simple plan had worked.

He focused on the area he'd seen the red flash in and, as silently as he could, sprang across the gym, using the rafters at the top to swing in that direction. So few people looked up. If he was lucky, he'd get the drop on her. If not, they'd end up in a fight that he had more advantage in. Either way, the odds were in his favor. He practically had this in the bag! He was so the cheese!

She hid behind a rack of weights right outside the door she'd entered in. Being cautious, then? He grinned. Yes, caution was a good thing to have, but this was a rookie mistake. You didn't stay in one spot if you didn't want to be found. Well, most of the time.

He grinned as he judged the distance needed and then jumped down, more than prepared to land on his newest teammate and...

Instead, he found a kwami who looked up, eyes wide, and then dove out of his way. He landed and turned in the direction the fairy had gone.

"Wait, Tikki?" he asked. That's when he noticed the rope attached to the bars on top of the rack and the weights that had been taken off the bottom rack set in front of the wheels, stopping it from rolling and the rope had already tightened as the rack tipped towards him and...

Well, shoob.

He couldn't jump out of the way in time, although he tried. Several of the weights still fell on top of his legs, making him immensely grateful for the suit that should stop it from doing any permanent damage... which Ladybug would know and had obviously taken advantage of.

"What the bruce?!" he asked as he looked back at his trapped legs. They weren't super heavy weights, not difficult to get off, but it would slow him down and –

Two hands reached down and made as if to yank off his mask. He rolled to the side, but they didn't let go.

The lights in the gym came on and he found a smirking Ladybug standing above him.

Double shoob.

"Aw, man," he muttered, stealing Jake's favorite line before he'd realized he had.

"Well done, Ladybug," said Agent Possible's voice over the intercom. "Since we can't see her over the videos, I'm guessing you sent Tikki out as a distraction. Commendable, especially since you know Tikki can't really be hurt."

Randy sighed as Ladybug shifted and went to help free him. Which was good, because it may not have broken anything, but the weights weren't comfortable.

"Sorry," she said as she knelt down beside him. "I hope that didn't hurt."

"My pride more than anything," he muttered, rubbing at his ankle. It throbbed, but the suit had stopped him from taking worse beatings than this before. The weights on the rack hadn't gone higher than 20 lbs, something his suit could easily take. It took large robots and stanked monsters before his suit started to tear.

"Now, move to the center of the floor mats and start a sparring match. Normal rules," Agent Possible said, and Randy could hear the grin in her voice.

He was  _never_  going to live this down.

Some doodles appeared in the air with the word 'simple' and then an arrow pointing right to him. He sighed. Definitely shouldn't have embraced the simple.

He won the sparring matches (although some were close), but the fact that he'd initially lost to an unmasked girl who was younger than him made him really reevaluate himself and his strategies. Of course, Ladybug also happened to raise several 'bruce' levels in his books as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because part of why Marinette was chosen was her cleverness and ability to plan last-minute/fly by the seat of her pants. She'd give Randy a run for his money in the suit, but really she doesn't have the experience he does in this fic, not to mention he's got 800 some odd years of Ninja ability behind him and she's not in her 5000+ year old suit at this point. She'd lose the spars, but I still think she'd win the fight.


	9. The Team: Yo-yo

 "Jake?" Marinette asked, secretly annoyed at her apparent inability to use American slang.

The older boy turned from where he rested on the couch to look up at her. "Yeah, Ladybug?"

She frowned for a moment. Perhaps she should tell them her identity. They were, after all, her team. Then again, she hadn't told Chat and he was part of her team too...

Shaking the old argument from her head, she leaned her elbows down on the back of the couch.

"I was wondering, does your family know 'ow to make things?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Make things?"

She smiled at him. "You know, magic things." Ha! She'd made improvement. As soon as she had the 'th' sound down, she'd move on to the 'h', although she wasn't sure she'd ever have the right inflections. Those were just... strange.

Jake frowned. "A few things," he said slowly. "Why?"

"I would like a magic yo-yo."

He blinked at her, then he started to laugh. "I get why you'd want one, but when you say it like that..."

She huffed and stood, crossing her arms in front of her. "Well, can your family make one for me or non?"

The dragon boy finished laughing, wiping a tear from his eye and smiled cockily. "It's all cool, sis. I'm sure I could hook you up with the best."

She blinked. "Zere are ozzer magic yo-yo's?" It took her a moment to realize she'd missed some pronunciation in her shock. 

Before she could berate herself, Jake drew her attention as he shrugged. "I could check."

Marinette smiled. "I would appreciate it."

xXx

"No magic yo-yos," Jake informed her with a sigh before their next training session. "Except for one," he paused tapping a finger to his chin. "A tool that sounds an awful lot like a yo-yo was used in a few ancient civilizations by a woman wearing red with black spots." He shot her a pointed look.

The heroine groaned. "But I need a yo-yo when I am not in ze actual suit!"

"Hey, what about the sword I got you?" Randy asked from where he'd been stretching over by the wall, obviously having listened in.

Marinette turned to him with a placating smile. "I appreciate it, mon amis, but my main tool is a yo-yo. I feel... unarmed when I do not 'ave it in me."

"On me," Jake corrected her. "It's 'on me' not 'in me'."

"Why would you even say that? The translation can't be that far off," Randy said in his usual, tactless way.

Marinette frowned at him, then turned her attention purposefully back to Jake.

Randy huffed, but the shorter boy got the subtext and sighed. "So, I talked to Fu Dog about it."

"Wait," Marinette held up a hand, "Fu dog?"

"Yeah, he's an ancient master, but he's a dog. It's... erm... well, it's a long story and not really mine to tell. Why do you ask?"

"Ze Guardian of ze Miraculous was named Fu. An old, Chinese man with bright, 'Awiian shirts."

Jake blinked, taken back. "Huh, go figure. Wonder if they know each other."

And he'd officially lost Marinette, so she decided not to ask while he continued. "Anyway, he knows all this stuff about ancient artifacts and he thinks he can help you make one of your own."

Marientte's eyebrows rose. "But I know nossing of how to build a magical artifact."

The dark-haired boy sighed. "Yeah, I told him that, but he said something about how it's a personal thing, making a magical weapon like that. So anyway, if you really want to do it, I got Kim to give you and me leave at the end of the week. I kinda gotta know asap so Fu can get what he needs."

The heroine thought about that for a moment and glanced over at a silent Tikki, who nodded. "I'll be happy to help too, Ladybug."

The girl smiled gratefully. "Alright," she said to Jake, "let zem know I would love to come."

xXx

" _So, you're the French girl I gotta teach everything to,"_ the oldest, fattest and most wrinkled dog she'd ever seen said to her after she walked in the door. He said it in flawless French. Marinette may have stared a little bit as a few things went through her mind.

Firstly, there was a dog speaking to her. Talk about surreal. Secondly, she'd been expecting something like Master Fu. Fu Dog was nothing like Master Fu. She could tell that already. Thirdly, it was probably a very good thing that Chat wasn't here (she didn't know how he mixed with dogs and wasn't sure she wanted to find out).

The dog cleared his throat.

"Oh, um, oui," Marinette said with a small bow, despite the too-large clothing she'd insisted upon trying to trip her up (she still had her mask and suit on underneath– had to hide her identity somehow, and Agent Kim had approved). "Je m'appelle Ladybug."

"I don't get it," the dog said in just as perfect English. "If you're French and you're using an ancient magical artifact, why is your name in English? Why not 'Cocinelle' or ancient Chinese or something?"

"Fu," Jake said from behind her, sounding very put upon.

She didn't really mind the question, though. She'd never... really thought about that. When she'd chosen the name, it just  _felt_ right.

"Because I wanted it to be?" she said, a little uncertainly. If he asked her to elaborate, she wouldn't have an explanation.

The dog tipped his head to the side, then shrugged. "Eh, I've heard worse. So, you wanna make your own, magical weapon, huh?"

It took her a moment to catch up with his abrupt topic change. "Oh, oui."

The dog stood on his hind legs and walked to her like a normal human. Suddenly, she felt very grateful that Jake had turned out as normal as he had if he grew up with things like this.

"I ain't gonna lie to you, kid. It's not easy. There's a reason most people would rather steal something instead of making it themselves. So, let's go over what exactly you want in your weapon and we'll see how plausible it is and how long it will take."

Marinette big her lip before she asked slowly, "About how long can it take?"

Behind her, Jake groaned. "Here we go again," he muttered, then leaned forward and whispered, "he likes to exaggerate sometimes, fyi."

The dog rubbed his jaw. "Well, there's studying time and work time and then you have to let the magic seep in, so it can take anywhere from a couple of months to a few hundred years."

Marinette's eyes bugged out. "A-a few hundred years?" she squeaked.

Fu shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, give or take a century or two. So, what are we looking at here?"

The girl tried to not let her heart sink. Maybe this was just a bad idea after all.

"Er, well, I want to make a yo-yo."

The dog just stared at her for several seconds, then he burst into laughter. "Ah ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! A yo-yo!" Then he looked up at Jake. "I can see why you like this kid. She's a hoot!"

Jake just sighed.

Marinette huffed, withdrew her sketchbook from the satchel on her back and set it down in front of him (with probably a little more force than necessary). He paused, and then his smile slowly faded into a thoughtful expression as he studied it.

"I would like ze round part here to be able to change weight according to how I need it to. Ze string will have to be very... what is ze word? Hard?" The expression on her face plainly stated just how that word didn't quite fit.

"Like a diamond hard?" Jake asked, eyebrows raised.

The girl blinked. "Zat would be nice, but however hard we can make it. Zis is just a backup, oui?"

Jake nodded as Marinette continued.

"Ze coloring would have to change between black and red, and if I could get ze spots when red, zat would be wonderful, and ze string would have to grow and shrink with my... thoughts?"

"More like will," Jake corrected her. "Usually what magic is directed by."

She nodded her appreciation to him, sat back and looked up at the dog in front of her. "So, how long would somesing like zis take?"

He just stared at the page with the drawing for several minutes before looking up at her. "First, let me say I  _thought_  I sensed something about you. Tikki! Come out and say hi, you brat."

That took both Marinette and Jake by surprise, especially when Tikki flew out of the shirt, giggling, and stopped in front of the dog.

"Fu Dog," she said with a big smile.

"Please tell me your food-obsessed partner isn't here. The mangy cat. I'll chase him right out, so help me!"

Marinette's eyes grew bigger. "You know Chat Noir?"

Tikki turned to Marinette. "He doesn't mean Chat Noir," she said, a little sheepishly. "He means his kwami, Plagg."

"Oh. I'm suppose I'm  _very_  glad zey are not 'ere then."

"It's a cat/dog thing," Fu said with a shrug. "That, and the fact that he takes my food. Also, I have enough bad luck as it is."

"You still have my coin, I see," Tikki said, floating up to the dog's neck and putting a hand on the old, coin-like token hanging off of his collar there.

"Oh, ho, ho, you have no idea how hard it has been for my family – especially me – to keep this," Fu said dramatically. "Seriously, there's this other—"

"Guys," Jake cut in, "reminisce later. If the yo-yo is going to take a long time to build, we need to get started on it."

The two ancient beings blinked at them. "Right," Fu nodded. "Well, from what I see here, the studying for something like this would normally take a few months, and I'm guessing a decade or so to build it and enchant it correctly."

"Oh," Marinette replied sadly.

"Well, that's about how long it would take if you didn't wield the Miraculous of creation." He glanced over at Jake with a huff. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Jake smacked his forehead. "I told you I was working with Ladybug!"

"Yeah, but you never said she was a Miraculous holder."

"Uh, yeah. Kim wanted to keep that as secret as we could. We cast a  _spell_  to either repress the knowledge in people's minds or to make them forget altogether, remember?"

Marinette blinked. "You did?" she asked, shocked.

Jake nodded. "Yeah, once we learned you didn't want people to know your identity. It was a one-time thing though."

Fu rubbed his chin. "Huh, must have cast it a bit too well. I would have known about something like that." He shook his head, making a sort of blubbering sound as he did so before focusing back on her. "Right. I get where you're coming from. Guess some pretty nasty people can show up looking for it."

Marinette put her hands to her ear lobes. "Nasty people?" she asked.

The dog nodded. "Yeah. Kinda surprised no one's come after you yet, especially before the spell."

"Well, to be fair," Jake said, "until rather recently, they've been fighting another Miraculous holder."

Fu's eyes widened. "No, oh-oh, wait. I  _know_  I heard about that. Don't tell me it was Nooroo! They were called Akuma this time around, right? Not champions?"

Tikki nodded sadly.

The old dog growled, then turned to the kwami sympathetically. "I'll make sure to put together a get well basket and send it back with you."

The little kwami smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Fu Dog."

"Don't mention it. Just tell him we're even."

Tikki giggled again. "I don't know if a gift basket will make you even."

The dog smirked. "Then you've never seen my gift baskets."

"Guys!" Jake cut in again, exasperated. "How long will it take?"

The dog blinked. "Oh, we can run your girl here through a crash course and finish it by... oh, the end of the week?" He glanced at Tikki who looked thoughtful.

"If I can help with the enchantments and you can get the magic to stick when I'm not transformed, yes, that sounds about right."

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise. "Zat... is much shorter."

Fu rolled his eyes. "Uh, yeah. You have a Kwami on your side. Oh, and me."

Marinette decided to be grateful while Jake just shook his head and sighed.

xXx

They started out with a simple, wooden yo-yo (apparently the wood would hold the spells better than more or less any plastic out there, something about it being closest to its natural state) that had been more difficult to find than Marientte thought it should be. They scoured several stores for one that would work the best... or at all. Seriously, did  _everything_  these days have to be made of plastic?

Marinette, still unsure whether she should be telling Jake anything about her identity, went out with Fu Dog and Tikki as herself. They finally found what they were looking for in a specialty gaming shop that the old dog knew of.

While they were gone, Jake had been setting up the spells they would need. Some of them were potions with the strangest (and grossest) ingredients, but apparently Jake knew more or less what he was doing. At least, that's what Fu said.

Then Marinette had to study the incantations and look up the different applications herself while Jake went out looking for a natural string to enchant. Eventually they found some natural cat gut from an instrument shop. Once they explained to the girl that they didn't actually use cats to make it, she felt immensely better, although hearing that they used other animals didn't exactly sit well with her either. Unfortunately, nothing else was strong enough and fine enough to work for the string she wanted. Reluctantly, she agreed, remembering that this was for her teammates and her job.

According to Fu Dog, the length of the string, the color of the yo-yo and the density thereof would all be normally simple spells each made exponentially more difficult for having to work together, and all of them would have had to be controlled by words, but with Tikki, they could surpass that. As long as it was a Miraculous wielder holding the yo-yo, it should be able to adjust itself according to their will. Marinette found that perfect. That way it would be more difficult for a yo-yo to be taken and used by someone not a Miraculous holder.

She spent three days studying, almost non-stop ( _not_  an easy feat for her) and then was able to help with the spells they would need to cast.

The heroine felt kind of bad when Jake, his grandfather and Fu Dog closed their shop to help cast the spells. Apparently group castings were faster and more powerful. It also minimized the chances of a mistake because if one person made one, another person could compensate. Most of the spells left her feeling drained, especially because they lasted for anywhere from 45 minutes to 9 hours. Most of the longer ones started just before midnight and ended at dawn. It was grueling and by the end of the week, most of them (except Jake's grandfather) were walking around in a sort of sleep-deprived haze.

At the end of the week, Tikki was able to accelerate the magic seeping into the yo-yo. Then, after a day of rest for all of them (and several packets of cookies for Tikki), they all stood around an otherwise inconspicuous, black yo-yo.

"Well," Jake said with a grin as he gestured for her to pick it up. "Let's take it for a test run!"

xXx

It wasn't as good as her in-costume yo-yo, of course, but it worked very well. Although, as Marinette swung from building to building, she realized she'd have to work on her arm strength and balance if she wanted to pull of Ladybug as effortlessly without the suit as with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have to admit, this is one of my favorite chapters when it comes to 'The Team'. :)


	10. The Team: Dopplegangers

Randy shot up from his position on the couch where he'd been slumped over his book again. Marinette had been warned early on to not bug him while he was 'inside' the book or to try and follow him.

"It's way too trippy in there, and I've been in the Ghost Zone," Danny had whispered to her after that warning and she'd never seen a reason to test it.

Now, his sudden movement caused everyone's attention to turn to him.

"Man, that Nomicon of yours is a real piece of work," Jake said with a raised eyebrow as Randy groaned.

"You have  _no_  idea," Randy muttered. "And half the time I can't even make sense of what it says!"

"What did it say?" Marinette asked, unable to hold back her curiosity. Chat really was rubbing off on her too much. Maybe it was the fact that she called him multiple times a week these days, just to talk. She'd probably learned more about her kitty now than she had while they were fighting Hawk Moth. Honestly, it was getting to where she didn't see a point in keeping her identity from him, no matter what Tikki said.

Randy sighed, drawing Marinette's attention back to him. "'He who focuses on the past will be unable to see the future.'"

"Sounds about right, but what does that have to do with anything?" Jake asked.

The taller boy threw his hands in the air. "How am I supposed to know?"

"Um, it's your book," Danny pointed out. "And aren't you used to deciphering what it says? I mean, you consult it for more or less everything. You have since you were a Freshman, right?"

Randy shot him an annoyed look. "Not everything. The last time I went full Nomicon it didn't go well."

At first Marinette thought something had been lost in translation, but then she saw the confusion on her other teammate's faces. Fortunately, Jake asked what she'd been thinking.

"Full Nomicon?"

Randy sighed. "Yeah. I began to realize that this book had a lot of answers if I'd just listen to it. That it would make my life, and consequently the fights I got into, a lot easier. The Nomicon wanted to teach me how to balance my life and decisions, especially as the Ninja. So after I asked it one too many times about one too many things, it trapped my mind and sent out my opposite in my place. I guess it was to show me what either extreme looked like. Full Nomicon, which is what I'd been doing, or no Nomicon, which is what Nomi-Randy did."

"Nomi-Randy?" Danny asked, raising one wry eyebrow. Marinette hid her smile behind her hand.

"I was in 9th grade," Randy defended. "And I've never been that creative when it comes to things like that."

"What did Nomi-Randy do?" Marinette asked, fascinated.

The other teen sighed. "Not a lot of good, I'll tell you that. I'd go so far as to call him my evil doppelganger."

"Oh, don't even get me  _started_  on evil doppelgangers," Jake cut in, sounding annoyed.

Randy's eyes widened. "You too?"

Jake sighed, closed his eyes and said something under his breath. Then, to everyone's surprise, a second Jake appeared beside him. The second Jake looked at the first and said: "Seriously?"

First Jake just stared dryly back. "It was easier to show them. I'll just reabsorb you now."

"Good," the second one muttered before disappearing into a sort of aura that headed right back into Jake. The other three stared at him as he did so.

"I didn't know you could make duplicates!" Danny was the first to speak, pointing an accusing finger at Jake.

The American Dragon shot him a dry look. "It takes a lot out of me, even now. I used to only be able to do it with chi enhancers. I'm getting better at them, but they're still not terribly plausible in battle and I don't like to do it because of what happened."

The other three exchanged glances.

Ever the soul of tact, Randy spoke first. "So what did happen?"

Jake frowned. "Well, I'd just learned how to create doppelgangers – it's an ancient dragon technique – but I was a little overwhelmed with everything that was going on. My dad signed me up for this scout thing that he wouldn't let me get out of, despite the fact that I had a job, school and a major competition coming up, not to mention chores around the house. So, I kind of got the idea that I could use doppelgangers for everything. I used those chi enhancing pills I mentioned to help me out, but I accidentally took a wrong one to make a fifth doppelganger that would basically face down a school bully. Well, long story short, that one kind of got a mind of his own. Tried to take over my life. He...wasn't nice."

"Well," Randy started slowly, sounding far more serious than Marinette had ever heard him. "At least you know it wasn't, you know, you. Not only you, in any case."

"Neither was yours," Jake pointed out with a wave of his hand. "And... honestly? I don't know if it was me. I mean, sure, the pills had an affect on me, but... I can't help but think, did it put something there that wasn't there already? What if all of that was in me too and just brought out?" He shuddered.

Randy bit his lip before opening his mouth reluctantly. "Yeah, I... um.. Well, there was one other time. Not an evil doppelganger but... Well, I've told you guys about the Sorcerer, right?" Marinette nodded and saw Jake do the same out of the corner of her eye. She hadn't noticed that Danny had retreated behind them a little ways, looking troubled.

"Well, the Sorcerer used a kind of potion infused with, what I'm guessing, was either his magic or life force or something. He put this potion into magical orbs of some kind and then used them until the magic ran out. There were four balls he initially lost and over 800 years, well, they didn't seem to get any weaker, that's for sure. Anyway, there was this new guy using one of the balls to control the people of the town because the potion from another ball had contaminated the water supply. The energy was basically the same, and he could use his ball to control anyone who drank the water. The dude was looking for more power, so he had everyone search for the other balls that got lost.

"My friends and I knew where some of them were, but... well, we kind of lost some of them and... long story short, my friend, Howard found the one of them, but the magic dude brought his zombie people and cornered him. I had two options, use the ball that he found myself to try and counter the other guy's commands or let my best friend end up dead at the bottom of a pit. I..." He paused and took a breath. "I wasn't happy about the idea of using it, but I didn't think anything bad would happen after just a few seconds. I... was wrong. I kind of went power hungry until my friend got seriously hurt and snapped me out of it and I..." He faded off, then cleared his throat. "That... that was all me."

"Nah. It's still an outside influence," Jake said, nudging his friend in the arm with his elbow.

"Yeah," Randy muttered, "but I can still... feel that. Part of me... part of me still kind of wants it. I mean I don't, and the idea  _scares_  me, but still. I'm not good at explaining stuff like this."

They fell into an awkward silence after that. Marinette didn't know what to say. Chat Noir had been under the control of an akuma a couple of times: Dark Cupid, Princess Fragrance, Puppeteer... But she'd never had that problem herself. Probably a good thing, seeing as she was the one who needed to cleanse the akumas (and she was the one that used her brain when Chat just liked to rush into things, was it a boy thing?), but that didn't make the experiences any more pleasant. The stupid cat had never really learned to not take hits for her.

Jake finally decided to break said silence. "What about you, Ladybug?"

Marinette blinked. "Moi? Er, non. I 'ave never 'ad the problem you speak of."

Randy stared at Marinette in disbelief and jealousy.

"Really?" Jake asked, sounding about how Randy looked.

The girl shook her head. "Non." She wasn't sure that was a good thing in her book. Well, it was, obviously, because an evil Ladybug? She shuddered. But would this be something that would just differentiate her further from her teammates? She already had so many things that did. She was from a different country, was a different gender, grew up in a different culture...

But she did have some experience with it, and she wanted them to know that.

"But my partner, Chat Noir, 'e is reckless and foolish. 'Is emotions have been changed against 'is will, 'is mind taken over, 'is memories erased... It 'as been... difficult."

"But it's never happened to you, right?" Jake asked.

Marinette shook her head.

"Lucky," Danny muttered from where he'd retreated. Unfortunately, that drew attention to him.

"What about you, Danny? Have you had any evil alternates you want to share?"

"No."

The abruptness of his response startled the rest of them.

"You've seriously never seen some other part of you go evil?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Marinette was just fine with leaving it at that. The boys, however, weren't.

"We told you about ours," Randy pointed out, folding his arms across his chest.

"I didn't ask you to."

"It is fine," Marinette started, holding up her hands, "If 'e does not–" but Randy and Jake would have none of it.

"You want to tell us that you've never had a problem like that?" Jake asked.

Danny didn't answer.

"'Ow about we—" Marinette started again, but her ninja teammate cut her off this time.

"Come on, man, how bad can it be? I almost destroyed my town."

"I almost destroyed my whole life," Jake agreed.

Danny rounded on them and Marinette took a step back. His expression was both cold and searing. It kind of reminded her of Adrien's father, except not so haughty. Just as intense, though, if not more so. And desperate...

"When you find out you destroyed the world, we can talk."

Marinette was sure hers weren't the only eyes widening in surprise.

"You... destroyed the world?" Jake asked, a little weakly.

Danny's expression twitched and he withdrew into himself a little. "Yeah."

"Um..." Marinette found herself asking, "'ow? Ze world still is 'ere."

Her teammate suddenly looked as if the weight of said world rested on his shoulders. "It was a future. A future that won't happen as far as I'm concerned."

"You... saw the future?"

Danny spoke through gritted teeth. "I saw  _a_ future. And visited. And almost didn't escape back to my own time so I could save my family." He looked down at his hand. "In the end, I wasn't fast enough. Someone else had to intervene."

He stood and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Like I said. I don't wanna talk about it."

With that, he strode out of the room, letting the door shut behind him and leaving his teammates to stare after him. A few seconds later, Marinette stood and glared at the other two. She felt guilty herself for not being forceful enough to stop her teammates from continuing to dig.

"You push too 'ard," she practically spat before taking off after Danny.

Fortunately, he hadn't turned invisible or flown away. She saw him disappear around a corner at the end of the hall and ran after him. She didn't call out to him, afraid that if she did, he would pull a ghost and vanish, but she wanted to at least apologize to him before he did.

She caught up to him outside on the balcony walk-way that Marinette didn't see a practical use for, but had always enjoyed. She wasn't the only one, apparently. The older boy was leaning on the railing and looking out at the base surrounding them. It was a lovely view that Marinette liked to take in (it reminded her of the Eiffel Tower), but today she gave it no heed. Instead, she slowly walked up behind Danny, then leaned against the railing beside him.

He didn't say anything, but he didn't tell her to go away, so she decided to count that as a win.

"I am sorry," she finally whispered. "Next time, I will try 'arder to stop them when you do not wish to talk."

Danny hummed in acknowledgment, but otherwise didn't say anything. So, instead, she decided to do something she'd only ever done with Chat (although this felt incredibly different for some reason). She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"I'm 'ere, mon amis," she said softly. "I do not know so much, but if I can 'elp..."

Her teammate finally seemed to relax a little.

"Thanks, Ladybug," was all he said.

Marinette glanced down at the purse she always carried out of her actual costume, where Tikki was sleeping, and made a decision.

"Marinette," she said softly.

Danny blinked and then turned to her, surprised. "What?"

"My name. Marinette. You may call me zat if you wish."

Her teammate's expression became bitter, and she frowned. That wasn't what she'd been going for.

"Are you sure you want to trust me with your name, now that you know exactly what I can do?"

Marinette stepped away from him and then punched his arm. Hard.

"Ow!" he complained. "What was that for?"

"I do not know what 'appened in zat future. I do not care. I know you. You are a good person, Danny Fenton, and I 'ave no problem wis you knowing my name." Well, her first name, at least. It was as much as she'd given Agent Possible.

He shook his head. "You wouldn't say that if you'd seen it."

Marinette folded her arms stubbornly. "Non," then she sighed. "You are wrong. Every person 'as a point where zey break. Now you just know yours. That is all."

Danny seemed taken back for a moment, but then, to her relief, his expression melted into a small, but genuine smile. She could still see pain and hurt and fear behind it, but she had to search for it, and she decided to count that as a win too.

"Thanks, Marinette," he said softly.

She smiled back. "Je vous em pris," she replied. "I will stay wis you as long as you wish. Non questions."

He nodded and went back to observing the land around them and they stayed that way until Jake and Randy worked up the courage to come out and apologize a couple of hours later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Much thanks to Aqualys for her help on french translations and accents in English. I really hope this is better.


	11. First Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: This was technically supposed to come before the reveal. FYI.

Marinette hadn't taken to her new yo-yo like she'd thought she would. It wasn't like her other one. That one, it seemed  _natural_  to use and she instinctively knew how to manipulate it to its fullest extent. With her new one, the weight felt different and the will to make it do what she needed it to was, to her, entirely strange, even if she couldn't explain  _how_ it was so different _._  She also suspected that Tikki and the memories of all the previous Ladybugs may have something to do with it.

It frustrated her enough for her to get a regular yo-yo and start practicing whenever she had any free time. While relaxing in the lounge area with the boys, while she walked down the halls of the building, before she went to bed, whenever she could spare a hand and a few moments. She didn't feel she'd improved much but Tikki encouraged her every moment she could, so she continued to practice.

She'd been working on a new yo-yo trick when an alarm went off, braking her concentration.

" _Code red_ ," Agent Possible's voice came over the line. " _It looks like a ghost found a natural portal into our world and it's coming straight for us._ "

Marinette felt herself pale.

"G-ghost?" she asked.

" _Danny just confirmed that it's a ghost called the Fright Knight. Get your ghost fighting gear and suit up. We're going out to meet him!"_

Marinette blinked, then looked over at Tikki. "Transforme moi!"

xXx

"The Fright Night is one of the more powerful ghosts in the Ghost Zone," Danny told them, walking back and forth in front of the small office as drawn pictures appeared on the screen behind him. Apparently ghosts didn't take pictures well outside of certain places, like Amity Park, and they didn't have enough time to get a lot of good pictures.

Those actual pictures that they did have did not exactly fill Marinette with confidence. The flaming fire surrounding his helmet and the cape and the glowing green sword and the guy looked like he could bench press... well, Marinette wasn't about to get into an arm wrestling match with the guy if she could help it.

That, of course, was before Danny briefed them on the sword that would make any person relive their worst fear. Marinette was sure she wasn't the only one who paled and Danny definitely gulped before he told them that.

Once he was done, he asked for questions. Agent Kim spoke up in a no-nonsense tone. "Is there anything unusual about this ghost that you think we should know?"

Danny thought about that for a moment before he paled and nodded. "The only time I've gone up against the guy on his own was when I... um, was stupid and took his sword. He's powerful, but he's usually working for someone else. Usually someone even more powerful. I have a few ideas in this case... and I hope none of them are true."

"What is the most likely scenario?" Agent Kim asked.

Danny took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Plasmius."

Everyone had gotten a briefing on him seeing as he was one of the few ghosts in this realm... a very powerful one at that.

"That would be breaking his treaty," Agent Kim said coldly.

"If he had a reason..." Danny said with a sigh. "He'd definitely do it. But it might not be him after all. Fright Knight does have his own ambition as well."

"Well, let's be prepared for either eventuality," their team leader replied. "Danny, I want three duplicates keeping a lookout. One from above, one guarding any information the ghost may be after, and one keeping track of us and the compound from headquarters here. The rest of us will confront the ghost."

"You think 'e is after information?" Marinette asked.

Danny shook his head. "We don't know. He may just be coming for a fight. However, we do have files on all the ghosts here. If he wants information, it's either in Amity Park or here. Amity Park has a ghost shield."

"Yeah, why don't we have a ghost shield?" Randy asked.

"It wasn't in the budget this year," Agent Kim muttered. "This might be a good argument for getting one."

"I have a question," Jake spoke up. "He's dead, right? So what do we do? I mean, how do you defeat someone who's dead?"

"Just like we've practiced," Kim replied. "Except Danny's going to take the lead on this. Does everyone have a specter deflector?" The team nodded, all of them pointing to the belts around their waists (except for Danny of course). "Alright, we'll back him up with the anti-ghost gear we do have. Ladybug, only use a lucky charm if you see an opening or if we get desperate. We can't rely on it though. We have no idea if it will work against ghosts and I'd prefer you powered up." Marinette nodded. For now, though, we have to weaken him enough that Danny can get him inside a thermos.

"Any questions?"

This time no one answered her.

"Alright. Head to the AAV. Let's set up a place we can meet him."

Everyone nodded and headed out.

xXx

Initially the fight was pretty boring. Danny took the lead, goading the Fright Knight (who looked far scarier in person) into attacking him in the field they'd set up their ambush in. He'd been surprised, but too strong to take down with a surprise attack. Fortunately, he focused mainly on Danny and left the rest of the team alone. Most of the fight took place in the air, and of the four of Danny's teammates, only Jake could fly. Marinette spent a lot of time on the ground, hiding and firing up at the ghost to keep him busy while Danny tired him out.

Then the Fright Knight changed tactics. He managed to get a good hit on Danny, and then ignored him completely, diving for the only team member out in the open at that point: Jake.

Jake put up a fight, and his teammates – including Danny – rushed to help him, but the Fright Knight managed to cut his tail with the sword and that quickly, Jake vanished.

"NO!" several voices yelled at once.

Randy attacked the guy from behind, wrapping his scarf around the Fright Knight's head. His suit was magic. It shouldn't have burned. The flames were ectoplasmic. Apparently they burned magical objects. Also, apparently, the sword's power didn't seem to be stopped by the specter deflectors, even if the Fright Knight had been shocked more than once when fighting Jake.

Randy had to back off, putting the flames out as best he could and only managed to get pushed aside by Agent Kim before the Fright Knight could cut him too. She took his place and ended up vanishing as well.

"Ladybug!" Randy called. "I think it's pretty dire! Lucky Charm!" He flipped out of the way as Danny dropped beside the Fright Knight and resumed their fight.

Marinette agreed with Randy.

"Lucky Charm!"

At that point, a pumpkin fell into her hand. She blinked at it. "Seriously?"

"Ladybug! Over here!" Randy yelled.

Marinette nodded and threw the red-spotted pumpkin at Randy who caught it in time to turn and stick it up as a shield. The sword sliced right into it and stopped.

Seeing this, Danny yelled out: "To cease the storm, to end the fear, the sword must sheath, in pumpkin near!"

"What?" the Fright Knight asked. "NO!" And with that, he turned to run. He didn't get far before he was sucked back into the pumpkin, screaming and yelling the entire time.

Danny then pulled out his thermos and turned it on, allowing the bright vortex to surround the pumpkin, drawing it, the sword (and consequently) the Fright Knight into it. Marinette wasn't sure how the pumpkin itself fit in something that small, but she also wasn't about to question it.

Beside her, Jake popped back into existence, crouching with his hands over his head. She also glanced over her shoulder to see Agent Kim come back, looking pale. Immediately, she took her phone out and called someone.

Marinette looked back to the American Dragon.

"Jake?" she asked cautiously. He looked up, eyes wide.

"Ladybug?" he asked, head whipping around. "Where's the Huntsclan? And Rose? The Dark Dragon brought them back and I couldn't even transform! I swear they were about to kill me... Rose was about to kill me." He rubbed at his neck.

Marinette approached him carefully. "It was not real," she said softly.

Behind her, she heard Agent Kim practically yell out, "Ron? Ron! Oh, thank..." she faded off to something softer, but Marinette kept focusing on Jake.

"It felt real..." he said.

"That's what the Soul Shredder does," Danny said, his voice equally as soft. "Remember, we discussed it before hand."

For several seconds, Jake just stared at him. Then he took a deep breath and nodded. "Right."

"Jake, take a week off," Agent Kim said with a smile as she joined the group with Randy holding his mask at her side.

"Randy, Danny, are you guys alright sticking around for a bit while Marinette, Jake and I take off?"

"Moi?" Marinette asked, blinking rapidly. Right about then, she noticed that her earrings were on their final beep and she detransformed into her mundane Ladybug costume. "Why?"

"Well," the older woman said with a shaky smile, "I'm heading to France to see my husband, and I figured you might want to come."

Marinette couldn't help but light up at that.

"We'll only have about a day there, but as long as Danny's duplicates are good..." she glanced over at the white-haired man, who nodded. "Then I don't see why we can't take a little vacation."

Danny sighed. "I'll talk to Frostbite about having the infimap on hand in case we need to get you guys back here fast. He won't be happy, but he owes me a favor."

"Good," Agent Possible replied with a nod.

"What's going to happen to the Fright Knight?" Jake asked, still looking a little off himself.

"I'll talk to my parents or Clockwork about holding him," Danny assured him. "He won't be coming back any time soon, and I'm not about to just release him so he can come back for us."

Jake nodded, and smiled at Randy, who bumped shoulders with him.

"Alright. Let's head back," Agent Possible said. "But first, I want you all to know that you did a great job today." Everyone exchanged smiles as they all turned to walk back to the AAV (Air assault vehicle... apparently Danny's parents had named it). Then Agent Kim looked to Danny.

"Did he say why he came?"

Danny shook his head. "He wouldn't even answer me."

The older agent frowned. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Me neither," Danny replied.

"Randy, Danny, it looks like you guys are going to be doing some digging when we get back."

Both boys groaned.

"I'll give you next week off for it."

They quickly changed their tune.

Marinette smiled, glancing over at Jake, whom she'd fallen into step with, even going so far as to put a hand on his arm to help ground him. He didn't shrug her off.

"Oh, Ladybug, do you mind if I speak with you for a moment?" Agent Possible asked suddenly.

Marinette glanced over to Jake, ready and willing to tell her no if Jake needed her there. He smiled gratefully at her and nodded his head.

"Oui," she replied with one final glance at her shaken teammate. Then she rushed to her superior officer's side.

"So, I understand that you've told Danny your name."

Marinette nodded sheepishly, but happily.

Agent Kim smiled. "I'm glad you're getting to where you trust your teammates, Marinette, but I have to ask why you've told us your name, but not your original partner. I was under the impression that you trusted him and that you're pretty close."

The smiled on Marinette's face vanished and she looked down, ashamed.

"W-well, it's... um..." she glanced up, but Agent Possible only raised an eyebrow expectantly. So Marinette sighed and gathered her courage. "It is zat I... 'e is my friend and partner. We work well togezzer. I... didn't want zat to change."

"The dynamic, you mean?"

Marinette blinked, glanced down at Tikki, who she now carried in her hand and then nodded at the Kwami's tired translation.

"Oh, oui."

Agent Possible sighed. "Marinette, change is inevitable. It happens and while being where you are can be good, you'll never get anything better if you don't allow change to happen."

Marinette sighed. "I know," she replied, ashamed. "I... 'ave been working up ze courage to tell him."

The red-head smiled at her. "Well, it's not something I can order you to do, but would you consider telling him when we're in France?"

The butterflies in Marinette's stomach turned into a raging ice storm. But she still called Chat every other night, and had learned so much more about him already. She knew he wanted to know her identity, and she knew he'd accept her, but telling him would be like closing that chapter of her life – the chapter with Hawk Moth and her and Chat against the world. But it was selfish for her to draw that out, to let it linger.

She took a deep breath and nodded her head.

Agent Kim's smile practically lit up her face. "Good for you, Marinette. And thank you for being there for Jake. I think his darkest fear really shook him up."

Marinette's stomach settled a bit as she glanced over at her three teammates, all of whom were now bickering over who would ride 'shotgun' (strange American slang).

"What about you?" Marinette asked her older companion.

Agent Possible's smile faded. "Mine is very unlikely. It was simple... my husband and his family were killed in front of me. But they aren't that easy to kill. People have tried."

Marinette's heart stopped a little when she thought of anything like that happening to her family, so she reached out and put an arm on Agent Possible's arm. She also got the feeling that there was more, but she wasn't about to press it.

The red-head smiled and patted Marinette's hand. "I'm glad we got you, Marinette. You're a real asset to the team."

She couldn't help but grin in pride all the way back to base.


	12. Side Story -- URK

Her new yoyo had turned out nicely. Sure, it was different and she'd had to get used to it, but it had worked. She learned rather quickly that she needed to use spells on her home-made suit to reinforce her legs and arms (especially in the joint areas) so she didn't strain them or risk damaging her legs when she landed, but it had worked.

So she'd asked Jake for some more help, this time with a baton that extended or contracted as needed. It would also need to be unbreakable but bendable. Apparently, there were several similar weapons out there and the preparation and spells for it wouldn't be nearly as difficult as her own weapon. So she also began working on a suit. Because if she could, then Chat Noir should be able to as well. Oh, she appreciated and cared for her new teammates, but none of them were her kitty – a kitty she missed a lot more than she was willing to admit aloud.

She'd almost finished with the magic reinforcements when the Fright Knight happened. The next day, she found herself on a plane to Paris, where they would spend a couple of hours before getting back to the airport and catching a return flight to America. And most likely, Marinette wouldn't be spending time with her parents at all. Actually, so as to make people think that Marinette wasn't Ladybug, she was planning on being very publicly there while Marinette wasn't. That, and she wanted to give the new suit to Chat.

It took help from Tikki to get the magic finished in time, and they had to do it on the (thankfully private) plane as they flew over the Atlantic Ocean, but she was very happy that she had both the staff and the suit finished by the time they landed in Paris. She had her oversized hoodie on to hide her identity from Agent Kim, mainly due to Tikki's insistence.

Once they got outside of the Airport, they caught a cab to downtown where Marinette got out, double checked her plans to meet up with Agent Kim soon, and then ducked into a public restroom with windows. Then she transformed and just had to wait for the restroom to empty before she slipped out of said window.

As she sped across the rooftops, the bag holding Chat's gift strapped to her back, she couldn't help but grin. There was just something about Paris that really set it apart from the rest of the world. The fact that it was the City of Lights probably had something to do with that, but she figured it was more that she was home, and the familiarity of it all...

She missed this.

And she couldn't wait to see Chat.

xXx

Tikki didn't want her to spill her identity still. Marinette didn't see a reason not to anymore, and honestly, she was ready. So she thanked Tikki for her advice but told her, rather firmly, that she was going to at least tell him her first name, because he deserved it. She felt kind of bad that he wasn't the first person she'd told her first name to, actually.

She was waiting on top of the Eiffel Tower when she spotted him darting across the rooftops. A grin came across her face. It hadn't taken very long for it all to get back to him, apparently. She hadn't contacted him, first knowing that Chat would most likely not be transformed and second, she'd wanted it to be a surprise.

"My Lady!" Chat said happily as he landed and rushed over to her. He paused before throwing his arms around her and backed away awkwardly. "It's... it's good to see you."

She rolled her eyes good naturedly. "Oh, shut up and give me a hug, you silly cat," she said, taking the step between them and wrapping him in a warm embrace.

"My Lady," he responded as he hugged her back. When she stepped away he went right back to being awkward though.

"Are... are you back permanently?"

She sighed. "No. I'm just here for a short break. I'll actually be leaving today."

"Oh," he said, his ears sagging.

"But," she grinned, "I do have a present for you."

She slung the bag off of her shoulder as he watched her with mild surprise and no small amount of curiosity.

"So, while I was away, I met people who actually deal with magic, and they were able to help me make a suit and a yoyo similar to my own that I can wear outside the transformation."

His mouth dropped open. "Seriously?"

She nodded and grinned before holding out the suit of black psudo-leather. "This is yours. It's not real leather so it's not as good at it could be, but it should allow you to land and support yourself while you're using your new baton out of costume. I made it so it's a shirt and pants, so you can wear either one under your clothes on a cool day, or you can change into it in a hurry. "

He looked up from the pile of clothes in his hands. "New baton?"

Somehow, her grin widened as she held out a metal cylinder. "It doesn't have internet access or phone capabilities or even a map, but with some practice, it should expand as long as you need it. It doesn't break in two either, but it should be nearly indestructible. For use when you're not transformed."

Slowly, carefully, as if he couldn't believe this was happening, he reached out and took the baton too.

"And this is a pretty generic mask, but it's the best I could do on short notice. You may want to get a better one that actually fits your face instead of this cheap, elastic number."

He just stared at the items resting in his arms now, feeling in awe.

"Y-you did this for me?"

"Of course, kitty!" she responded, mildly worried, but mostly amused.

His hug was sudden and warm this time as he threw his arms around her, even with the baton in one hand and a suit in the other.

"I missed you."

She chuckled. "I'm sure it can't be because of the gift, Kitty. This is the first time I've given you anything like this."

"True," he said, refusing to let go. "But you don't have to do things like this, and you still do. You're so generous and giving and wonderful and inspiring—"

Normally when he gave her compliments like that, she just pushed him away with a 'silly kitty', but she must have sensed how sincere he was because she just whispered one word.

"Chat..."

He realized what he was doing and backed away sheepishly. "Heh, sorry about that. Like I said, I missed you."

She just smiled softly at him. "I missed you too, Chaton."

Then, to his surprise, she turned and sat on the edge of the platform, looking out over Paris with a smile. He glanced at the gifts in his hands before setting them aside carefully. Then he joined her.

"So, how long are you back for?"

She sighed. "Only a few hours. My team leader... well, we had a rough fight and she came to see her husband."

"He lives here?"

"Temporarily."

Chat blinked. "Oh, you mean Ron?"

Ladybug seemed surprised. "So you know him?"

"Yeah, he's filling in for you. Not well, mind you. No one could ever take your place, My Lady."

She rolled her eyes, but that didn't stop the grin that spread across her lips. "Oh, please, kitty."

His own grin just widened. "So, I guess you're going to visit your family for a bit before you head out."

Her smile dimmed. "Something like that."

He frowned. "My Lady, what's wrong?

She didn't answer for several seconds, but when she finally did she spoke softer than he'd been expecting. "Chat, I'm... I'm ready to tell you my name."

He felt as if the entire Eiffel Tower had suddenly vanished, leaving him to free fall. "What?!"

"Just my first name," she assured quickly, "but it's something I've been doing with my new team, and it's not fair that I do that for them and not you. You're my first partner, and I trust you more than I trust anyone. So if I can tell them my name, I can tell you too."

Chat wasn't quite sure what to think about that. He was elated that his Lady was finally sharing something so personal with him, but he felt a stab of disappointment that he wasn't the first person she told. He didn't say anything for several seconds but eventually he forced himself to a point where he would be able to speak.

"Very well, I would love to hear your name," he said, trying and failing to keep the emotion out of his voice as he continued staring out at Paris.

She turned and frowned at him for a few moments before sighing. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you first, Chat. I... Well, your opinion means more to me than theirs, so it was a harder decision. I didn't want our relationship to change... but I've come to see now how cowardly that is."

Part of him agreed, but part of him didn't want his Lady to feel badly either.

"You could never be a coward, My Lady."

She sighed and shook her head. "You set me on too high of a pedestal, Chat. I'm just an average girl outside the mask."

He couldn't help but scoff at that one. "I highly doubt that."

Silence fell between them for several seconds and he wondered if he'd come on too strong... again.

Then she shook her head. "I really am, Chat. Just an ordinary girl named Marinette."

Chat froze with an 'urk'.

"M-marinette?"

"Y-yeah," she stuttered a little. That only added weight to his most recent realization.

"I... know a girl named Marinette."

Ladybug froze.

"She wears her hair in pigtails, and she's very brave, and she's currently gone away to study..." He turned to stare at her, green eyes wide. "Marinette Dupain-Chang?"

"How did you know that?" she asked heatedly, cheeks a flame... and in that instant he knew.  _Oh._  How could he  _not_  have seen that?!  _How_?!

"Those glamors on the Miraculous are stronger than I thought," he muttered.

"Chat..." she warned, looking half-way between panicking and ready to murder him.

"I know because my name is Adrien."

Silence again. He didn't dare look at her, couldn't bare to see the rejection in her eyes.

Then she 'urked' herself.

 _And there's the realization_ , Adrien thought nervously.

"A-A-Adrien A-A-Agreste?"

And there was the stutter.

"The one and only," he said with a forced smile. "I hope you're not too disappointed."

He finally glanced at her to see her staring at him in horror. His heart began to sink but then she spoke quickly.

"What? No,  _no!_  How could you think that?! I mean I... I just... You're... You're Chat...  _and_  Adrien! This... I... This is going to take s-s-some getting used to."

"But you're not... you know, upset?" he asked.

The blush was still there, but she shook her head vigorously. It was just so...  _Marinette._

"W-why w-would I be up-upset?"

Chat couldn't help his ears droop a little bit. He and Marinette had gotten to where they could converse just fine, although it had taken a while. Seeing the stuttering return didn't exactly fill him with hope.

"Well, you know, it's me. Spoiled rich boy who also happens to be the son of Hawk Moth."

Silence. He didn't dare look over at her. He wasn't sure what he'd find, but he was pretty sure it wouldn't be good. How could it be? He was the son of the man who had terrorized Paris.

"Oh, Chat," her soft voice whispered as he felt her arms come around him and her forehead on his shoulder. "I could never be disappointed because of something like that. You had no control over his actions or choices."

"We lived in the same house. I didn't... I couldn't  _see_ it."

She shook her head on his shoulder. "Oh, no, Kitty. The Miraculous have glamors on them. You know that."

Chat snorted. "Ron Stoppable can see through them."

Ladybug looked up at him, surprised. "You met him too?"

Adrien blinked his own surprise at her. "He works at your parent's bakery. He saw through me almost the moment he laid eyes on me."

She snickered. "Me too."

Chat's smile faltered. "So why couldn't  _I_  see past that?"

Again, Ladybug shook her head. "You aren't Ron Stoppable."

Adrien snorted. "Obviously. I have my pants on."

Marinette looked confused. "Huh?"

"Nothing," Chat shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. "But in regards to Hawk Moth... I still feel like I should have seen it. He'd been acting so differently but I couldn't work up the backbone to confront him about it."

She regarded him for several seconds, eyes troubled. That didn't stop him from realizing just how close they were right now or the blush that slowly crept up his neck and face.

"Adrien, before we faced off with Hawk Moth, what happened when you and your father discussed anything? How did you act?"

He winced and looked away.

"I'd usually just give in to keep the peace."

"Exactly. You like peace, you want peace, you work for peace, you  _sacrifice_  for peace... you always have. It's one of the many traits I love about you, Kitty."

And the blush was back. "L-love?!"

He could have sworn Ladybug's cheeks darkened a little, but she went on, just as determined as ever.

"Your desire for peace isn't a bad thing, Chat."

Adrien felt himself deflate a little. "It is when you let a Super Hero continue to terrorize Paris because you happen to be oblivious and don't like confrontations."

A sigh from Ladybug and she shook her head again, sadly. "Please don't blame yourself for this, Kitty. I certainly don't blame you. If anything, I'm so sorry we had to fight your father. I'm sorry he chose what he did."

He turned his head to stare at her again, their noses almost touching. "Has anyone ever told you you're amazing?"

She blushed. "A-a couple of people," she said as she sat up quickly. He felt cold without her there. But if he said what had just come to mind, he doubted she'd come back... and yet, he had to... he just  _had_  to.

"Simply  _meow_ -velous."

She groaned. "Don't tell me you're suddenly going to start spouting cat puns at me even as Adrien."

"Aw, Bugaboo, you know you love them." He leaned his head on her shoulder.

She shot him a dry look, put a finger on his nose and pushed him away. "You wish, Chaton."

There was the spit-fire he loved so much. Although, now that he thought about it, her civilian self being Marinette just made her about a hundred times cuter. And a hundred times more confusing... and about a billion times more attractive...

He decided to cut that thought off right there.

They sat there in comfortable quiet for a while, watching their city contentedly.

"Hey, Chat... if I knew someone who you could talk to about all of this, with your father... would you?"

The world suddenly seemed colder and darker.

"Talk to?" he asked, hating how defensive he sounded.

"If not, that's okay," she said hurriedly, "I just... thought it could help, is all."

He felt the proverbial walls he erected so quickly melting a bit. Of course his Lady was just looking out for him.

"I... don't know," he finally said softly.

"It's just, I know this couldn't have been easy on you, and I want you to be happy, Chat... Adrien."

They stared at each other for several seconds before he grinned. "Then would you go out with me?"

She jumped, startled and that was definitely a blush on her cheeks. "W-what?"

"Well, if you want this cat to be happy, then give him one date."

Her mouth opened and closed for a few seconds before she cleared her throat. "If you promise me you'll think about talking to someone about your situation... then yes."

His mouth dropped open. She said  _yes_.  _She said yes!_  Oh...Oh wow...

"I will, I promise!" he said happily, leaning forward and hugging her. She squeaked and stiffened, and he backed off.

"Sorry, I... I won't do that again, I promise. I just... I... um..."

"N-n-no, it... it's okay," she stuttered back. "I.. S-surprised me you... um... You just surprised me. All that. That's all."

Suddenly her stuttering didn't seem quite so disheartening. He'd always thought Marinette was adorable, but seeing Ladybug do that was heart-stopping.

"I like that I can make you look like that," he said softly, leaning in a bit.

She squeaked but didn't lean away.

"S-so wh-when I come b-back time next... next time! We c-c-can g-g-go o-on a d-d-d..." she couldn't seem to finish the sentence and her cheeks almost matched her mask.

"Date?" he asked.

Another squeak, but she nodded.

"Anyway, enjoy the suit, Igottagobye!" she said suddenly, standing up and leaping off of the tower. "See you later, Chat!"

"Forever and always, My Lady!" he called after her.

He swore he heard her squeak again and couldn't help but laugh. For the first time in a long time, as he gathered his things and started to head back towards his large, empty, cold home, his smile never dimmed.


End file.
